HISTORY  OF  ORATORY 
AND  ORATORS  • 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  ORATORY  UPON  POLITICS  AND 

LITERATURE,  WITH  SPECIAL   REFERENCE   TO   CERTAIN 

ORATORS  SELECTED  AS  REPRESENTATIVE  OF  THEIR 

SEVERAL  EPOCHS,  FROM  THE  EARLIEST 

DAWN  OF  GRECIAN  CIVILIZATION 

DOWN  TO  THE  PRESENT  DAY 


BY 


HENRY    HARDWICKE 
•  • 

Member  of  the  New  York  Bar  ;  The  New  York  Historical  Society  ;  The  New  York 

Genealogical  and    Biographical   Society  ;   The  Society   of    Medical 

Jurisprudence,  etc.    Author  of  "  The  Art  of  Winning  Cases," 

44  The  Art  of  Living  Long  and  Happily,"  etc. 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S    SONS 

NEW  -YORK  LONDON 

27  WEST  TWENTY-THIRD  STREET  24  BEDFORD  STREET,  STRAND 

ilje  finickerbocher  |3rtss 
1896 


COPYRIGHT,  1896 

BY 

G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 
Entered  at  Stationers'  Hall,  London 


GENERAL 


Ube  -Rnicfcerbocker  press,  flew  IRocbelle,  H.  IB. 


TO 

MY   FATHER 


97521 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

INTRODUCTION v 

1. — ORATORY  IN  GREECE i 

Rise  of  Eloquence  —  Pericles  —  Gorgias  —  Isocrates — Isaeus — 
Lysias — Demosthenes — ^Eschines. 

II. — ORATORY  IN  ROME 24 

Early  Roman  Orators  —  Junius  Brutus — Publicola  —  Appius 
Claudius— Cato  the  Censor — S.  Galba — Lselius — Scipio  Africanus 
— M.  Emilius  Lepidus — The  Gracchi — Marcus  Antonius — Crassus 
— Sulpicius  and  Cotta — Hortensius — Hortensia,  the  Female  Ad- 
vocate—Calvus —  Roman  Tribunals  —  Cicero — Decline  of  the 
Roman  Bar. 

III. — MODERN  ORATORY 70 

Its  Characteristics  and  Opportunities — Study  of  Oratory  Ne- 
glected by  Modern  Lawyers — Oratory  the  Road  to  Riches  and 
Honour — Revival  of  Oratory  in  Europe — Cultivation  of  Oratory 
Necessary  to  the  Preservation  of  the  Republic. 

IV. — ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND 88 

Legal  Limitations — Qualifications  Necessary  for  a  Pleader — 
Bolingbroke — Chatham —  William  Pitt — Fox — Burke — Grattan — 
Curran  —  O'Connell — Canning — Brougham — Erskine — Scarlett — 
John  Bright — Disraeli— Gladstone. 

V. — ORATORY  IN  FRANCE         ......     300 

A  Corrupt  Judge  Hung — Pity  that  Corrupt  Judges  in  all  Coun- 
tries are  not  Hung — Standard  of  the  French  Bar — Rules  for  Ad- 
vocates— At  the  Bar — Influence  of  the  Revolution — Mirabeau. 


IV 


CONTENTS. 


VI. — ORATORY  IN  AMERICA  v         .         .        .        -317 

Revolutionary  Eloquence — Hamilton — Henry— Otis— Ames — 
Randolph  —  Pinkney  —  Wirt  —  Everett  —  Corwin  —  Prentiss  — 
Webster— Clay— Choate. 


INTRODUCTION. 

ORATORY  is  the  parent  of  liberty.  By  the  constitu- 
tion%of  things  it  was  ordained  that  eloquence  should 
be  the  last  stay  and  support  of  liberty,  and  that  with 
er  she  is  ever  destined  to  live,  flourish,  and  to  die.  It  is  to 
the  interest  of  tyrants  to  cripple  and  debilitate  every  species 
of  eloquence.  They  have  no  other  safety.  It  is,  then,  the 
duty  of  free  states  to  foster  oratory. 

The  importance  of  oratory  is  attested  by  the  belief, 
according  to  the  fables  of  Greece  and  Egypt,  that  the  art  of 
eloquence  was  of  celestial  origin,  ascribed  to  the  invention  of 
a  god,  who,  from  the  possession  of  this  art,  was  supposed  to 
be  the  messenger  and  interpreter  of  Olympus.  It  is  also 
witnessed  by  the  care  with  which  the  art  was  cultivated  at 
a  period  of  the  remotest  antiquity. 

With  the  first  glimpse  of  historical  truth  which  burst 
from  the  regions  of  mythology,  in  that  dubious  twilight 
which  scarcely  descries  the  distinction  between  the  fictions 
of  pagan  superstition-  and  the  narrative  of  real  events,  a 
school  of  oratory,  established  in  the  Peloponnesus,  dawns 
upon  our  view. 

After  the  lapse  of  a  thousand  years  from  that  time,  Pau- 
sanius,  a  Grecian  geographer  and  historian,  says  that  he 
had  read  a  treatise  upon  the  art  composed  by  the  founder 
of  this  school,  a  contemporary  and  relative  of  Theseus  in 
the  age  preceding  that  of  the  Trojan  war. 

As  is  stated  elsewhere,  the  poems  of  Homer  abound  with 
still  more  decisive  proofs  of  the  estimation  in  which  the 
powers  of  oratory  were  held,  and  of  the  attention  with 


VI  IN  TROD  UC  TION. 


which  it  was  honoured  as  an  object  of  instruction  in  the 
education  of  youth. 

From  that  time,  through  the  long  series  of  Greek  and 
Roman  history,  down  to  the  dark  and  forbidding  period  in 
which  the  glories  of  the  Roman  republic  expired,  the  splen- 
dour and  the  triumphs  of  oratory  are  multiplied  and  con- 
spicuous. Then  it  was  that  the  practice  of  the  art  attained 
a  perfection  which  has  not  since  been  rivalled. 

Oratory  was  power,  in  the  flourishing  periods  of  Athens 
and  Rome.  Eloquence  was  the  key  to  the  highest  digni- 
ties, the  passport  to  the  supreme  dominion  of  the  state. 
The  voice  of  oratory  was  the  thunder  of  Jupiter;  the  rod 
of  Hermes  was  the  sceptre  of  the  empire.  In  proportion 
to  the  wonders  she  achieved,  was  the  eagerness  to  acquire 
the  art.  Eloquence  was  taught  as  the  occupation  of  a  life. 
The  course  of  instruction  commenced  with  the  infant  in 
the  cradle,  and  continued  to  manhood.  It  was  one  of  the 
chief  objects  of  education,  and  every  other  part  of  instruc- 
tion for  childhood  was  compelled  to  yield  to  it.  Letters, 
the  sciences,  arts,  were  to  be  mastered,  upon  the  theory 
that  an  orator  must  be  a  man  of  universal  knowledge. 
Moral  duties  were  taught,  for  the  reason  that  none  but  a 
good  man  could  be  an  orator. 

Learning,  wisdom,  even  virtue  herself,  were  estimated  by 
their  subserviency  to  the  purpose  of  eloquence,  and  the 
chief  duty  of  man  consisted  in  making  himself  a  master  of 
eloquence. 

With  the  dissolution  of  Roman  liberty,  and  the  decline  of 
Roman  taste,  oratory  fell  into  decay. 

In  the  United  States,  any  one  who  knows  the  least  of  our 
system  of  government  may  perceive  that  every  law  that  is 
passed  must  be  submitted  to  the  people  in  their  representa- 
tive or  collective  capacity,  and  there  is  no  man,  no  matter 
how  humble  his  station  in  life,  who  may  not  be  called  upon  to 
serve  as  a  legislator,  or  as  a  member  of  some  body  in  which 
the  art  of  speaking  and  the  art  of  reasoning  become 
absolutely  necessary. 

In    political    meetings    which   are    held  so   often   in   our 


INTRODUCTION.  Vll 


country  no  man,  thanks  to  the  genius  of  our  institutions, 
is  precluded  from  delivering  his  sentiments  with  freedom 
upon  any  topic  which  it  may  be  deemed  expedient  to  con- 
sider, and  the  person  who  speaks  well  is  sure  never  to  miss 
applause,  for  by  the  aid  of  oratory  useful  truths  are  promul- 
gated with  effect.  In  order  to  succeed,  however,  natural 
abilities  require  the  assistance  of  art.  It  is  absurd  to 
imagine  that  art  imposes  any  fetters  upon  genius  ;  she  aids 
and  directs  it. 

Opinions  differ  as  to  the  value  of  the  ancient  rhetorical 
writers.  Lord  Macaulay,  in  his  essay,  "On  the  Athenian  Ora- 
tors," thought  that  the  ancient  writers  upon  the  subject  of 
oratory  would  afford  us  but  little  assistance.  He  says  when 
they  particularise  they  are  generally  trivial ;  and  when  they 
would  generalise  they  became  indistinct.  He  says  that 
while  Aristotle  was  a  great  philosopher  he  was  without  im- 
agination, and  that  in  Quintilian  he  can  look  for  nothing  but 
rhetoric,  and  rhetoric  not  of  the  highest  order.  Quintilian, 
undoubtedly,  speaks  coldly  of  ^Eschylus,  while  he  warmly 
praises  the  plays  of  Euripides,  and  makes  other  erroneous 
judgments  of  the  great  classical  writers  of  antiquity.  With 
the  merits  of  Cicero,  every  school-boy  is  familiar. 

Longinus  gives  us  no  general  rules.  He  gives  us,  how- 
ever, many  eloquent  sentences,  and  Macaulay  suggests  very 
pertinently  that  "  The  Sublimities  of  Longinus  "  would  be 
a  better  title  for  his  treatise  than  "  Longinus  on  the  Sub- 
lime." 

It  may  be  doubted,  however,  whether  any  compositions 
which  have  ever  been  produced  since  the  dawn  of  civilisa- 
tion are  equally  perfect  in  their  kind  with  the  best  orations 
of  antiquity.  From  these  the  author  has  drawn  freely. 

Bare  allusion  is  made  to  the  history  of  oratory  in  other 
countries  than  those  in  which  we  have  given  an  account  of 
it.  The  small  opportunity  afforded  for  a  display  of  sena- 
torial or  forensic  oratory  by  the  different  governments  of 
Germany  has  almost  entirely  checked  its  growth  in  that 
country,  and  the  same  remark  is  applicable  to  Spain,  Portu- 
gal, and  Italy. 


Vlll  INTRODUCTION. 


The  difficulty  which  the  author  has  experienced  in  select- 
ing representative  orators  has  been  very  great.  He  is  aware 
of  the  fact  that  many  eloquent  men  are  not  included  whose 
lives  would  prove  interesting  and  instructive. 

The  author  ventures  to  indulge  the  hope  that  the  noble 
lives  he  has  put  on  record  will  act  like  an  inspiration  to 
others,  for  one  of  the  great  lessons  of  biography  is  to  show 
what  man  can  do  by  the  development  of  his  latent  talents,  and 
in  this  way  the  lives  of  great  men  are  useful  as  guides,  helps, 
and  incentives  to  others.  The  splendour  and  variety  of  the 
lives  of  distinguished  men  make  it  somewhat  difficult  to  dis- 
tinguish the  portion  of  time  which  ought  to  be  admitted 
into  history,  from  that  which  should  be  given  to  biography. 
These  two  parts  are  so  distinct  and  unlike  that  they  cannot 
be  confounded  without  great  injury  to  both;  either  when 
the  writer  of  biography  obscures  the  portrait  of  an  individ- 
ual by  a  crowded  picture  of  events,  or  when  the  historian 
allows  unconnected  narratives  of  the  lives  of  men  to  break 
the  thread  of  history.  The  author  belives  that  the  biogra- 
pher never  ought  to  introduce  public  events  except  so  far  as 
they  are  necessary  to  the  illustration  of  character,  and  that" 
the  historian  should  rarely  digress  in  biographical  particulars 
except  as  far  as  they  contribute  to  the  clearness  of  his  narra- 
tive of  occurrences. 

The  lives  of  the  subjects  of  the  following  sketches  cannot 
become  too  well  known  on  account  of  the  usefulness  of  their 
examples. 

H.  H. 

NEW  YORK,  July,  1896. 


HISTORY   OF   ORATORY  AND  ORATORS. 


HISTORY  OF  ORATORY  AND 
ORATORS. 


CHAPTER   I. 

ORATORY   IN   GREECE. 

TO  trace  the  history  of  eloquence  from  its  first  rude 
origin  through  the  various  ramifications  of  human 
genius ;  to  mark  the  powers,  the  characters  of  the 
many  orators,  in  the  different  ages  of  society,  who  have  em- 
ployed with  success  this  fascinating  art,  would  be  a  pleasing 
task.  It  would  be  instructive  even  to  pursue  the  science  as 
long  as  the  records  of  civilised  man  permit,  and  to  trace  the 
progress  of  oratory  from  Pericles  to  the  present  time.  But 
unfortunately  the  materials  for  such  a  critical  investigation 
are  few.  The  best  effusions  of  oratory  are  but  winged 
words.  The  music,  the  cadence,  the  action,  with  which 
they  were  graced,  are  lost,  and  even  the  substance  of  very 
few  of  the  orations  of  antiquity  are  transmitted  to  us. 

Not  many  of  the  orations  of  Demosthenes  have  outlived 
the  depredations  of  time.  It  is  a  well  known  fact  that 
Cicero,  for  many  years,  spoke  almost  daily  in  public,  and 
yet  a  very  small  proportion  of  his  numerous  orations  were 
committed  to  writing. 

Oratory  was,  undoubtedly,  studied  and  practised  with 
considerable  effect  from  almost  the  earliest  periods.  This 


2  HISTORY   OF  ORATORY. 

is  conclusively  proved  by  the  specimens  of  eloquence  which 
we  find  recorded  in  the  oldest  writings  extant. 
1  Like  their  poetry,  the  oratory  of  the  Hebrews  was  short 
and  sententious,  but  in  the  speeches  of  Moses,  and  Samuel, 
and  in  the  Book  of  Job,  we  have  many  beautiful  examples 
of  the  sublime  and  pathetic  in  oratory. 

The  speeches  in  Homer  are  worthy  of  study.  It  is  said 
that  these  speeches  were  composed  by  Homer,  and  are  not 
to  be  ascribed  to  the  characters  from  whose  mouths  they 
are  supposed  to  issue,  nor  to  the  period  in  which  they  ex- 
isted. This  may  be  true,  but  the  Iliad  is  known  to  be  a 
dramatic  representation  of  the  age  in  which  the  poet  lived ; 
hence  two  inferences  will  follow — that  it  was  then  customary 
to  address  public  assemblies  in  the  manner  of  the  heroes 
of  Homer — and  that  no  inconsiderable  progress  must  have 
been  made  in  eloquence  as  an  art. 

Eloquence  is  only  to  be  looked  for  in  free  states,  and  free 
states  are  only  to  be  found  where  eloquence  is  assiduously 
cultivated.  Longinus,  in  his  treatise  on  the  sublime,  says 
that  liberty  is  the  nurse  of  true  genius ;  it  animates  the 
spirit  and  invigorates  the  hopes  of  men  ;  excites  honorable 
emulation,  and  a  desire  of  excelling  in  every  art. 

In  tracing  the  rise  of  oratory  it  is  needless  to  go  too  far 
back  in  the  early  ages  of  the  world,  or  delve  for  it  among 
the  monuments  of  Eastern  or  Egyptian  antiquity.  There 
was  eloquence  of  a  certain  kind  in  those  ages,  but  it  was 
more  like  poetry  than  oratory.  Philologists  believe  that 
the  language  of  the  first  ages  was  passionate  and  metaphori- 
cal, owing  to  the  small  stock  of  words  then  known,  and  to 
the  tincture  which  language  naturally  takes  from  the  barba- 
rous and  uncultivated  state  of  men,  agitated  by  unrestrained 
passions,  and  struck  by  events,  the  causes  of  which,  to  them, 
were  unknown.  Rapture  and  enthusiasm,  the  parents  of 
poetry,  had  an  ample  field  in  this  state. 

While  the  intercourse  between  different  countries  was  un- 
frequent,  when  the  words  stranger  and  enemy  were  synony- 
mous, and  force  and  strength  were  the  chief  means  employed 
in  deciding  controversies,  the  arts  of  oratory  were  compara- 


ORATORY  IN  GREECE.  3 

tively  unknown.  The  Assyrian  and  Egyptian  empires,  the 
first  that  arose,  were  despotic  in  character,  and  the  people 
were  led,  or  driven,  not  persuaded,  and  none  of  those  refine.- 
ments  of  society  which  make  public  speaking  an  object  of 
importance  were  as  yet  introduced. 

One  of  the  earliest  accounts  of  a  trial  is  that  which  Homer 
has  given  us  in  his  description  of  the  shield  made  by  He- 
phaestion,  at  the  request  of  Thetis,  for  Achilles.  The  parties 
are  represented  as  pleading  themselves  before  the  judges. 

"  The  people  thronged  the  forum,  where  arose 
The  strife  of  tongues,  and  two  contending  stood  : 
The  one  asserting  that  he  had  paid  the  mulct, 
The  price  of  blood  for  having  slain  a  man  ; 
The  other  claiming  still  the  fine  as  due. 
Both  eager  to  the  judges  made  appeal. 
The  crowds,  by  heralds  scarce  kept  back,  with  shouts 
And  cheers  applauded  loudly  each  in  turn. 
On  smooth  and  polished  stones,  a  sacred  ring, 
The  elders  sat,  and  in  their  hands  their  staves 
Of  office  held,  to  hear  and  judge  the  cause  ; 
While  in  the  midst  two  golden  talents  lay, 
The  prize  of  him  who  should  most  justly  plead." 

From  the  time  of  Homer  to  the  age  of  Pericles,  there  are 
no  authentic  orations  on  record. 

The  eloquence  of  Pericles  must  have  been  of  a  high  order, 
for  by  his  eloquence  and  his  policy  his  influence  was  supreme 
in  Athenian  affairs  for  many  years. 

It  is  said  that  Pericles  was  the  first  Athenian  who  com- 
posed, and  put  into  writing,  an  oration  designed  for  the  pub- 
lic. The  golden  age  of  Grecian  eloquence  extended  from 
the  time  of  Solon  (about  600  B.C.)  to  that  of  Alexander 
(B.C.  336).  Within  this  space  the  most  renowned  orators 
flourished.  This  was  the  brightest  period  in  the  history  of 
Greece,  at  the  close  of  which  her  sun  went  down  in  clouds, 
and  never  rose  again  in  its  native,  dazzling  splendour.  It  is 
said  that  Anaxagoras  instructed  Pericles  in  the  sublimest 
sciences,  and  that  Pericles  acquired  from  him  not  only  an 


4  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 

elevation  of  sentiment,  but  a  loftiness  and  purity  of  style 
far  superior  to  that  of  any  of  his  cotemporaries.  Pericles 
was  also  noted  for  a  remarkable  gravity  of  countenance 
which  never  relaxed  into  laughter,  a  firm  and  even  tone  of 
voice,  an  easy  deportment,  and  a  decency  of  dress  which  no 
vehemence  of  speaking  ever  put  into  disorder. 

These  things  and  others  of  a  like  nature  excited  the 
admiration  of  his  countrymen.  In  commenting  upon  the 
character  of  this  wonderful  man,  Plutarch  says :  "  The  beauty 
of  goodness  has  an  attractive  power;  it  kindles  in  us  at 
once  an  active  principle  ;  it  forms  our  manners,  and  influences 
our  desires,  not  only  when  represented  in  a  living  example, 
but  even  in  an  historical  description." 

When  the  name  of  Pericles  is  mentioned  to  a  lover  of 
liberty,  a  crowd  of  glorious  associations  is  called  up.  The 
splendid  funeral  oration  over  those  who  fell  in  the  Pelopon- 
nesian  war,  is  one  of  the  grandest  productions  of  antiquity. 
It  exhibits  a  strong  and  ardent  attachment  to  country, 
which  true  patriots  always  feel,  and  an  undaunted  courage 
in  its  defence,  and  willingness  to  pledge  everything  for  the 
maintenance  of  civil  liberty.  Many  portions  of  this  peer- 
less oration  are  almost  as  applicable  to  America  as  to 
Athens  when  delivered,  but  if  the  merits  of  the  martyrs  and 
heroes  of  the  American  Revolution  could  be  justly  set  forth 
by  an  orator  equal  to  the  task,  the  renowned  oration  of 
Pericles  would  be  eclipsed. 

The  author  cannot  forbear  quoting  a  few  passages  from 
that  celebrated  address : 

"  I  shall  begin,  first,  with  our  ancestors,  to  whom  it  is  at 
once  just  and  becoming,  on  such  an  occasion  as  the  present, 
that  this  honour  of  our  commemoration  should  be  paid  ;  for 
the  country  which  was  ever  their  own  home,  they  have 
handed  down  in  the  line  of  their  successors  to  the  present 
day,  free,  through  their  valour.  Both  they  indeed  are 
worthy  of  our  praise,  and  still  more  our  own  fathers ;  for 
having,  in  addition  to  what  they  inherited,  acquired,  not 
without  hardship,  the  dominion  which  we  possess,  they  have 
transmitted  it  to  us. 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  GREECE.  5 


"  The  greater  portion  of  it  indeed  we  ourselves,  who  are 
yet  at  the  meridian  of  life,  have  still  further  augmented,  till 
we  have  placed  the  city  in  all  things  in  such  a  state  of 
preparation  that  it  is  all-sufficient  in  itself  for  war  and  for 
peace. 

"  The  warlike  deeds  by  which  all  this  has  been  effected, 
either  by  ourselves  or  by  our  fathers,  in  strenuously  resisting 
the  invasions,  whether  of  barbarians  or  of  Greeks,  I  omit, 
not  wishing  to  enlarge  upon  them  before  the  well  informed ; 
but  by  what  conduct  we  have  come  to  this  condition,  by 
what  policy  and  by  what  manners  these  great  results  have 
been  brought  about,  these  I  will  set  forth  before  the  eulogy 
of  the  deceased,  deeming  these  things  not  inappropriate  to 
be  spoken  on  this  occasion ;  and  that  it  will  be  beneficial 
to  the  whole  assembly  of  strangers  and  citizens  to  listen 
to  them. 

"  For  we  enjoy  a  form  of  government  not  emulating  the 
laws  of  neighbouring  states,  being  ourselves  rather  a  model 
to  others  than  copying  from  them.  It  has  been  called  by 
the  name  of  Democracy,  as  being  the  government  not  of  the 
few  but  of  the  majority.  It  secures  to  all,  under  the  laws, 
equality  in  their  private  controversies, — in  proportion  as  a 
citizen  is  in  any  respect  in  good  repute,  he  is  preferred  above 
others,  not  more  on  account  of  the  class  to  which  he  may 
belong  than  his  own  merit ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  as  to 
poverty,  no  one  qualified  to  serve  the  state  is  prevented 
from  doing  so  by  the  obscurity  of  his  condition.  We  per- 
form our  public  duties  on  these  liberal  principles ;  and  as  to 
mutual  supervision  in  reference  to  the  daily  course  of  life, 
we  take  no  offence  at  our  neighbour  for  following  his  own  in- 
clination, nor  do  we  subject  ourselves  to  the  annoyance  of 
austerities  which  are  painful,  if  not  injurious.  In  this  pane- 
gyric of  the  state  of  things  in  Athens  there  is  a  constant, 
though  tacit  contrast  with  the  Spartan  institutions  and 
character. 

"  While  our  private  intercourse,  therefore,  is  without 
offence  in  our  public  concerns,  we  mainly  fear  to  act  ille- 
gally, ever  obeying  the  magistrates  for  the  time  being  and 


6  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 

the  laws,  especially  such  of  them  as  are  passed  for  the  pro- 
tection of  the  oppressed,  and  such,  though  unwritten,  as 
cannot  be  broken  without  acknowledged  shame. 

"  Having  displayed  our  power  in  noble  manifestations, 
and  most  assuredly  not  without  witnesses,  we  shall  be  the 
admiration  of  the  present  age  and  of  posterity,  not  needing 
in  addition  the  eulogy  of  Homer,  or  of  any  other  poet, 
whose  descriptions  will  charm  the  ear  at  the  time,  but  whose 
conceptions  of  deeds  is  at  variance  with  the  truth ;  but  hav- 
ing forced  every  sea  and  every  land  to  be  accessible  to  our 
enterprise,  and  having  everywhere  planted,  together  with 
our  settlements,  eternal  monuments  of  injuries  and  of  bene- 
fits. Combating  therefore  generously  for  such  a  city,  and 
thinking  it  unjust  that  it  should  be  wrested  from  them, 
these  men  laid  down  their  lives ;  and,  of  those  who  survive, 
it  behooves  every  one  to  labour  and  suffer  for  it. 


"  Such,  then,  as  became  the  city,  were  the  departed.  As  for 
those  who  remain,  you  may  desire  indeed  a  safer  career,  but 
you  must  not  deign  to  cherish  a  spirit  in  any  degree  less 
resolute  toward  the  enemy ; — having  regard  not  merely  to 
'the  words  of  persons  not  wiser  than  yourselves,  who  may 
harangue  you  upon  the  honour  of  gallant  resistance  to  the 
foe,  but  rather  daily  contemplating  indeed  the  power  of  the 
state,  till  you  become  enamoured  of  it  ;  and  when  you  have 
come  to  perceive  its  greatness,  reflecting  that  brave  men 
knowing  their  duty,  and  in  their  deeds  shrinking  from  dis- 
honour, have  achieved  it, — men  who,  even  though  they  might 
fail  in  an  enterprise,  still  felt  that  they  ought  not  to  deprive 
the  country  of  the  benefit  of  their  valour,  but  lavished  upon 
it  the  most  precious  offering.  Thus  giving  their  lives  to  the 
public  they  received  individually  the  praise  that  grows  not 
old,  and  a  most  distinguished  sepulchre,  not  so  much  that  in 
which  their  bodies  lie,  as  that  in  which  their  glory — on 
every  occasion  of  word  or  deed — shall  be  left  in  everlasting 
remembrance. 


ORATORY  IN  GREECE.  7 

"  For  of  illustrious  men  the  whole  earth  is  the  sepulchre, 
and  not  the  inscription  alone  of  columns  in  their  native  land 
indicates  it,  but  in  countries  also  not  their  own,  the  un- 
written memory  which  abides  with  every  man  of  the  spirit 
more  than  the  deed. 

"  Emulous  of  men  like  these,  do  you  also,  placing  your 
happiness  in  liberty,  and  your  liberty  in  courage,  shun  no 
warlike  dangers  in  defence  of  your  country." 

Pericles  was  not  only  an  orator,  but  a  statesman,  and  a 
general ;  expert  in  business,  and  of  consummate  address. 
He  had  the  surname  of  Olympias  given  him,  and  it  was  said, 
that,  like  Jupiter,  he  thundered  when  he  spoke,  but  whether 
he  could  out-thunder  Jupiter  or  not,  is  not  certainly  known. 
He  was,  however,  humane,  just,  and  patriotic,  as  well  as 
generous,  magnanimous,  and  public-spirited.  The  people 
had  absolute  confidence  in  his  integrity,  and  never  was  that 
confidence  betrayed.  Although  having  ample  opportunities 
to  do  so,  he  did  not  accumulate  a  fortune  for  himself,  but 
spent  vast  sums  of  money  in  beautifying  Athens,  and  in 
public  works  of  great  utility. 

At  his  death  he  valued  himself  chiefly  on  having  never 
obliged  any  citizen  to  wear  mourning  on  his  account. 

After  Pericles,  those  who  were  most  noted  for  their  elo- 
quence, were  Cleon,  Alcibiades,  Critias,  and  Theramenes. 

The  style  of  oratory  which  then  prevailed  was  concise, 
vehement,  and  manly. 

Eloquence  was  more  assiduously  cultivated  after  the  death 
of  Pericles  than  it  was  before.  The  precepts  of  oratory  had 
not,  until  that  time,  been  collected  and  reduced  to  anything 
like  a  system.  There  had  been  orators  before  the  time  of 
Pericles,  of  course,  but  in  the  nature  of  things,  practice  must 
precede  theory.  Oratory  was  undoubtedly  prior  in  point  of 
time  to  rhetoric.  This  must  be  the  case  with  all  arts.  Many 
houses  must  have  been  built  before  a  system  of  architecture 
could  be  formed  ;  many  poems  composed  before  an  art  of 
poetry  could  be  written. 

All  didactic  treatises  must,  necessarily,  consist  of  rules 
resulting  from  experience,  and  that  experience  must  be 


8  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


founded  on  previous  practice.  So,  at  the  period  mentioned, 
a  set  of  men  called  rhetoricians,  and  sometimes  sophists, 
sprang  up.  They  were  especially  plentiful  during  the  Pelo- 
ponnesian  war.  Among  them  were  Protagoras,  Prodicus, 
and  Thrasymus.  The  most  eminent  of  the  sophists,  how- 
ever, was  Gorgias  of  Leontium.  The  most  of  the  sophists 
joined  to  the  art  of  rhetoric  as  taught  by  them,  a  subtile  logic 
'• — and  they  were  a  sort  of  metaphysical  skeptics,  according 
to  some  writers,  but  Gorgias  was  a  professed  master  of  elo- 
quence only.  He  was  highly  venerated  in  Leontium  of 
Sicily,  his  native  city,  and  money  is  said  to  have  been  coined 
with  his  name  upon  it.  His  style  was  quaint  and  highly 
artificial,  and  the  fragment  of  his,  which  has  been  preserved, 
abounds  in  antithetical  expressions.  In  the  hands  of  men 
like  Gorgias,  who  professed  to  teach  others  how  to  speak  for 
and  against  every  cause  whatever,  oratory  degenerated  into 
a  trifling  and  sophistical  art.  They  were  the  first  corrupters 
of  true  eloquence.  The  great  and  good  Socrates  exploded 
the  doctrines  of  the  sophists,  and  recalled  the  attention  of 
the  Athenians  to  natural  language  and  useful  thought. 

Isocrates  flourished  in  the  same  age,  but  a  little  later  than 
Socrates.  His  writings  are  still  extant.  He  was  a  teacher 
of  eloquence,  and  an  orator  of  ability,  but  his  orations  are 
greatly  wanting  in  vigour.  They  have,  however,  been  much 
admired  on  account  of  the  sound  morality  which  they  incul- 
cate, and  for  the  smoothness  and  elegancy  of  the  orator's 
style.  Isocrates  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  rhetorician 
who  introduced  regular  periods  which  had  a  studied  music 
and  harmonious  cadence.  He  spent  ten  years  in  polishing 
one  discourse,  still  extant,  the  Panegyric.  Cicero  was  an 
admirer  and,  in  some  respects,  an  imitator  of  Isocrates,  but 
it  must  be  said  to  his  credit,  that  he  recognised  and  avoided 
his  chief  faults — his  affectation,  and  the  tiresomely  uniform, 
regular  cadence  of  his  sentences. 

Isseus  and  Lysias  belong  also  to  this  period.  Lysias  was 
somewhat  earlier  than  Isocrates,  but,  unlike  the  latter,  his 
style  was  unaffected  and  simple.  He  was  a  lawyer  by  pro- 
fession, and  his  eloquence  is  almost  exclusively  forensic. 


ORATORY  IN  GREECE.  9 

Thirty-four  of  his  orations  have  been  transmitted  to  us,  and 
for  their  acuteness,  clearness,  and  the  method  shown  in  their 
composition  would  not  be  bad  models  for  the  forensic 
orators  of  our  own  day,  if  we  could  not  hear  better  ones  in 
our  courts  at  almost  any  time. 

Isaeus  is  chiefly  remarkable  for  being  the  teacher  of 
Demosthenes,  the  greatest  orator,  in  many  respects,  that 
ever  lived.  The  circumstances  of  his  life  are  well  known, 
and  it  is  needless  to  dwell  upon  them  at  length.  His  ambi- 
tion to  excel  in  the  art  of  speaking  ;  his  frequent  failures  ; 
his  untiring  perseverance  in  surmounting  all  the  disadvan- 
tages of  person  and  address  which  he  laboured  under ;  his 
resolution  in  shutting  himself  up  in  his  subterranean  retreat, 
that  he  might  study  without  being  disturbed  ;  his  declama- 
tions by  the  seashore  that  he  might  accustom  himself  to  the 
noise  of  a  tumultuous  assembly,  and  his  use  of  pebbles  in 
his  mouth  while  practising,  in  order  to  cure  certain  defects 
of  speech  ;  his  speaking  at  home  with  a  naked  sword  sus- 
pended over  his  shoulder,  that  he  might  check  a  habit  which 
he  had  of  raising  and  lowering  it,  to  which  he  was  subject, — 
all  these  circumstances  show  us  how  much  can  be  accom- 
plished by  industry  and  application,  and  what  great  labour 
is  necessary  for  the  attainment  of  excellence  in  the  art  of 
oratory. 

Demosthenes,  despising  the  affected  style  of  the  orators  of 
his  day,  chose  Pericles  as  his  model,  hence  the  chief  charac- 
teristics of  his  style  were  strength  and  vehemence. 

Demosthenes  had  a  wide  field  for  the  display  of  patriotic 
eloquence,  when  Philip  of  Macedon,  by  the  aid  of  the  most 
insidious  arts,  endeavoured  to  lay  the  Greeks  asleep  to  their 
danger,  and  by  force  and  fraud  to  overthrow  Grecian  liberty. 
He  first  crushed  his  enemies  at  home  and  then  enlarged  his 
kingdom  abroad,  then  invited  by  the  Thessalians  to  assist 
them  against  the  Phocians,  he  sent  an  army  into  Thessaly, 
and  made  a  determined  and  bold  attempt  to  seize  the  key 
of  Greece,  the  famous  pass  of  Thermopylae.  This  decisive 
movement  alarmed  the  Athenians  at  last,  and  an  assembly  of 
the  people  was  convened  for  the  purpose  of  determining  the 


10  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


best  course  to  be  pursued  for  the  purpose  of  arresting  the 
progress  of  the  enterprising  Macedonian  tyrant.  Rising, 
like  one  inspired,  Demosthenes,  at  this  meeting,  delivered, 
in  impassioned  tones,  his  first  Philippic,  and  urged  his  hear- 
ers to  make  vigorous  war  against  Philip.  He  realised  the 
true  state  of  affairs.  He  knew  that  many  of  the  people  had 
become  corrupt  and  degenerate  and  incapable  of  estimating 
at  its  true  value  the  great  blessings  of  civil  liberty  ;  that 
traitors  to  their  country,  in  the  pay  of  Philip,  were  continu- 
ally urging  the  people  not  to  fight  against  him,  and  knowing 
these  facts  he  governed  himself  accordingly.  The  following 
are  some  of  the  best  passages  from  this  famous  speech : 

"  When,  therefore,  O  my  countrymen  !  when  will  you 
exert  your  vigour  ?  Do  you  wait  till  roused  by  some  dire 
event  ?  till  forced  by  some  necessity  ?  What  then  are  we  to 
think  of  our  present  condition  ?  To  freemen,  the  disgrace 
attending  on  misconduct  is,  in  my  opinion,  the  most  urgent 
necessity.  Or  say,  is  it  your  sole  ambition  to  wander  through 
the  public  places,  each  inquiring  of  the  other,  '  what  new 
advices  ?  '  Can  anything  be  more  new  than  that  a  man  of 
Macedon  should  conquer  the  Athenians  and  give  law  to 
Greece  ?  '  Is  Philip  dead  ?  '  '  No  ;  but  he  is  sick.'  Pray 
what  is  it  to  you  whether  Philip  is  sick  or  not.  Supposing 
he  should  die,  you  would  raise  up  another  Phillip,  if  you  con- 
tinue thus  regardless  of  your  interest ! 

"  Then  as  to  your  own  conduct,  some  wander  about,  cry- 
ing, Philip  hath  joined  with  the  Lacedemonians,  and  they 
are  concerting  the  destruction  of  Thebes.  Others  assure  us 
that  he  has  sent  an  embassy  to  the  king  of  Persia  ;  others, 
that  he  is  fortifying  places  in  Illyria.  Thus  we  all  go  about 
framing  our  several  tales.  I  do  believe,  indeed,  Athenians  ! 
he  is  intoxicated  with  his  greatness,  and  does  entertain  his 
imagination  with  many  such  visionary  prospects,  as  he  sees  no 
power  rising  to  oppose  him,  and  is  elated  with  his  success." 

He  continues  in  the  same  high  strain  in  the  third  Phi- 
lippic : 

"  All  Greece,  all  the  barbarian  world,  is  too  narrow  for 
this  man's  ambition.  And  though  we  Greeks  see  and 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  GREECE.  1 1 


hear  all  this,  we  send  no  embassies  to  each  other ;  we  ex- 
press no  resentment ;  but  into  such  wretchedness  are  we 
sunk,  that  even  to  this  day  we  neglect  what  our  interest 
and  duty  demand.  Without  engaging  in  associations,  or 
forming  confederacies,  we  look  with  unconcern  upon  Phil- 
ip's growing  power,  each  fondly  imagining  that  the  time  in 
which  another  is  destroyed  is  so  much  time  gained  on  him ; 
although  no  man  can  be  ignorant  that,  like  the  regular 
periodic  return  of  a  fever,  he  is  coming  upon  those  who 
think  themselves  the  most  remote  from  danger. 

"  And  what  is  the  cause  of  our  present  passive  disposition  ? 
For  some  cause  sure  there  must  be  ;  why  the  Greeks,  who 
have  been  so  zealous  heretofore  in  defence  of  liberty,  are 
now  so  prone  to  slavery.  The  cause,  Athenians,  is  that  a 
principle  which  was  formerly  fixed  in  the  minds  of  all,  now 
exists  no  more  ;  a  principle  which  conquered  the  opulence 
of  Persia,  maintained  the  freedom  of  Greece,  and  triumphed 
over  the  powers  of  sea  and  land.  That  principle  was  an 
unanimous  abhorrence  of  all  those  who  accepted  bribes 
from  princes  that  were  enemies  to  the  liberties  of  Greece. 
To  be  convicted  of  bribery  was  then  a  crime  altogether  un- 
pardonable. Neither  orators  nor  generals  would  then  sell  for 
gold  the  favourable  conjunctures  which  fortune  put  into  their 
hands.  No  gold  could  impair  our  firm  concord  at  home, 
our  hatred  of  tyrants  and  barbarians.  But  now  all  things 
are  exposed  to  sale  as  in  a  public  market.  Corruption  has 
introduced  such  manners  as  have  proved  the  bane  and 
destruction  of  our  country.  Is  a  man  known  to  have  re- 
ceived foreign  money  ?  People  envy  him.  Does  he  own  it  ? 
They  laugh.  Is  he  convicted  in  form  ?  They  forgive  him. 
So  universally  has  this  contagion  diffused  itself  among  us." 

Sometimes  Demosthenes  found  it  difficult  to  arouse  the 
Athenians  to  a  just  sense  of  their  real  danger.  On  one  occa- 
sion when  he  was  desirous  of  addressing  a  large  meeting  in 
the  city,  the  people  would  not  have  heard  him  with  atten- 
tion, if  he  had  not  informed  them  that  he  only  wished  to 
tell  them  a  story.  Hearing  this,  he  received  their  attention, 
and  he  commenced  as  follows  :  "  Once  upon  a  time  there 


12  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


was  a  man  who  hired  an  ass  to  go  from  this  city  to  Megara. 
About  noon,  when  the  sun  was  burning  hot,  both  the  driver 
and  the  hirer  sought  the  shade  of  the  ass,  and  mutually  hin- 
dered each  other.  The  owner  said  that  the  traveller  had  hired 
his  ass,  and  not  its  shadow.  The  traveller,  in  opposition  to 
him, maintained  that  the  whole  ass  was  under  his  jurisdiction." 
Having  thus  commenced  his  story,  he  withdrew.  The  people 
recalled  him,  and  begged  him  to  finish  the  story.  He  said 
to  them  :  "  Ah  !  how  eager  you  are  to  hear  a  story  about 
an  ass's  shadow,  and  you  will  not  listen  when  I  speak  of  your 
most  important  affairs  !  "  Philip  was  not  idle  while  the 
Athenians  were  wasting  their  time  in  fruitless  discussion. 
Under  pretence  of  attacking  the  Locrians,  he  marched  his 
army  into  Greece,  captured  Elataea,  a  city  of  Phocis,  not 
very  far  distant  from  Athens.  The  capture  of  this  place, 
which  was  one  of  great  importance,  opened  to  Philip  a 
passage  into  Attica.  The  Athenians  were  struck  with  ter- 
ror upon  the  announcement  of  this  event.  In  his  oration 
on  the  crown  Demosthenes  graphically  described  the  scene 
of  dismay  and  confusion  which  prevailed  at  Athens  when 
the  news  was  received.  He  said  : 

"Thus  successful  in  confirming  the  mutual  separation  of 
our  states,  and  elevated  by  these  decrees  and  these  replies, 
Philip  now  leads  his  forces  forward  and  seizes  Elataea.  You 
are  no  strangers  to  the  confusion  which  this  event  raised 
within  these  walls.  Yet  permit  me  to  relate  some  few  strik- 
ing circumstances  of  our  own  consternation.  It  was  evening. 
A  courier  arrived,  and  repairing  to  the  presidents  of  the 
senate,  informed  them  that  Elataea  was  taken.  In  a  mo- 
ment some  started  from  supper,  ran  to  the  public  place, 
drove  the  traders  from  their  stations,  and  set  fire  to  their 
sheds ;  some  sent  round  to  call  the  generals ;  others  clamoured 
for  the  trumpeter.  Thus  was  the  city  one  scene  of  tumult. 
The  next  morning,  by  dawn  of  day,  the  presidents  sum- 
moned the  senate.  The  people  were  instantly  collected,  and 
before  any  regular  authority  could  convene  their  assembly, 
the  whole  body  of  citizens  had  taken  their  places  above. 
Then  the  senate  entered  ;  the  presidents  reported  their 


ORATORY  IN  GREECE.  13 


advices,  and  produced  the  courier.  He  repeated  his  intelli- 
gence. The  herald  then  asked  in  form,  '  Who  chooses  to 
speak  ?  '  All  was  silence.  The  invitation  was  frequently 
repeated.  Still  no  man  arose  ;  though  the  ordinary  speak- 
ers were  all  present ;  though  the  voice  of  Athens  then  called 
on  some  man  to  speak  and  save  her  ;  for  surely  the  regular 
and  legal  proclamation  of  the  herald  may  be  fairly  deemed 
the  voice  of  Athens.  If  an  honest  solicitude  for  the  preser- 
vation of  the  state  had  on  this  occasion  been  sufficient  to 
call  forth  a  speaker;  then,  my  countrymen,  ye  must  have  all 
risen  and  crowded  to  the  gallery,  for  well  I  know  this  honest 
solicitude  had  full  possession  of  your  hearts.  If  wealth  had 
obliged  a  man  to  speak,  the  three  hundred  must  have  risen. 
If  patriotic  zeal  and  wealth  united  were  the  qualifications 
necessary  for  the  speaker,  then  should  we  have  heard  those 
generous  citizens,  whose  beneficence  was  afterward  displayed 
so  nobly  in  the  service  of  the  state  ;  for  their  beneficence 
proceeded  from  this  union  of  wealth  and  patriotic  zeal. 
But  the  occasion,  the  great  day,  it  seems,  called,  not  only 
for  a  well-affected  and  an  affluent  citizen,  but  for  the  man 
who  had  traced  these  affairs  to  their  very  source  ;  who  had 
formed  the  exactest  judgment  of  Philip's  motives,  of  his 
secret  intentions  in  this  his  conduct.  He  who  was  not  per- 
fectly informed  of  these  ;  he  who  had  not  watched  the  whole 
progress  of  his  actions  with  consummate  vigilance,  however 
zealously  affected  to  the  state,  however  blessed  with  wealth, 
was  in  no  wise  better  qualified  to  conceive  or  to  propose  the 
measures  which  your  interests  demanded  on  an  occasion 
so  critical.  On  that  day  then,  I  was  the  man  who  stood 
forth." 

In  commenting  on  this  passage  Mr.  Goodrich  eloquently 
says:  "  Demosthenes  gives  us  a  picture  of  the  scene  by  a  few 
distinct,  characteristic  touches — the  presidents  starting  from 
their  seats  in  the  midst  of  supper — rushing  into  the  market- 
.  place — tearing  down  the  booths  around  it — burning  up  the 
hurdles  even,  though  the  space  would  not  be  wanted  till  the 
next  day — sending  for  the  generals — crying  out  for  the 
trumpeter — the  council  meeting  on  the  morrow  at  break  of 


14  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


day — the  people  (usually  so  reluctant  to  attend)  pouring 
along  to  the  assembly  before  the  council  had  found  a  mo- 
ment's opportunity  to  inquire  or  agree  on  measures — the 
entering  of  the  council  into  the  assembly — their  announcing 
the  news — their  bringing  forward  the  messenger  to  tell  his 
story  ;  and  then  the  proclamation  of  the  herald,  l  Who  will 
speak  ? ' — the  silence  of  all — the  voice  of  their  common 
country,  crying  out  again  through  the  herald,  'Who  will 
speak  for  our  deliverance  ?  ' — all  remaining  silent — when 
Demosthenes  arose,  and  suggested  measures  which  caused 
all  these  dangers  to  pass  away  like  a  cloud  !  " 

An  able  writer,  Mr.  Harsha,  says  that  "  Demosthenes  on 
this  occasion  aroused  his  countrymen  with  a  burst  of  elo- 
quence which  must  have  made  even  the  iron  will  of  Philip 
to  falter  on  the  throne  of  Macedon.  It  was  then  that  he  de- 
livered that  exciting  oration  which  made  the  whole  assembly 
cry  out  with  one  voice :  '  To  arms !  to  arms !  Lead  us 
against  Philip ! ' 

"Two  thousand  years  afterwards,  the  same  enthusiasm 
which  then,  amid  their  graceful  columns,  inspired  the  ex- 
citable Athenians,  and  filled  their  spacious  amphitheatre  with 
a  shout  that  rose  to  the  warm,  blue  sky  of  Greece,  awoke 
among  sterner  men,  in  a  colder  climate,  and  made  the  plain 
walls  of  a  church  in  Virginia  echo  with  a  cry  as  bold  and 
more  determined.  That  was  in  response  to  the  words  of 
Patrick  Henry,  the  forest-born  Demosthenes,  when  he 
uttered  in 'tones  of  thunder  those  ever-memorable  words: 
'  I  know  not  what  course  others  may  take,  but,  as  for  me, 
give  me  LIBERTY,  or  give  me  DEATH  ! ' 

"  It  is  in  the  darkest  crises  of  national  struggles  for  inde- 
pendence, amid  storms  and  tempests,  that  we  see  the  great- 
est political  orators  arise,  and  hear  the  thunders  of  their 
mighty  eloquence,  shaking  thrones  and  kingdoms  to  their 
centre.  It  is  then  that  we  hear  them  exclaim  with  Patrick 
Henry,  '  Whatever  others  do,  I  '11  fight  ! '  and  with  John  < 
Adams,  at  the  solemn  crisis  of  the  vote  of  the  4th  of  July, 
1776,  '  Independence  now,  and  Independence  forever!  ' 

The  Athenians,   on  the  proposal  of  Ctesiphon,   decreed 


ORATORY  IN  GREECE.  I  5 


Demosthenes  a  crown  of  gold,  in  consideration  of  the  many 
valuable  public  services  which  he  had  rendered  the  state. 

The  reward  was  strongly  opposed  by  his  rival  and  personal 
enemy,  ^Eschines — one  of  the  greatest  orators  of  that  age, — 
who  brought  a  suit  against  Ctesiphon  which  was  intended  to 
defeat  Demosthenes.  This  famous  prosecution  was  begun 
about  the  year  338  B.C.  ;  the  trial,  however,  was  delayed  eight 
years.  When  it  came  on  an  immense  crowd  of  people  from 
all  parts  of  Greece  went  to  Athens  to  witness  the  contest 
between  the  two  great  intellectual  gladiators. 

^Eschines'  speech  was  powerful  and  sarcastic.  He  was 
twelve  years  older  than  his  rival,  and  it  is  said  that  his  elo- 
quence was  distinguished  by  a  happy  flow  of  words,  by  an 
abundance  and  clearness  of  ideas,  and  by  an  air  of  great 
ease,  which  arose  less  from  art  than  nature.  The  ancient 
writers  appear  to  agree  in  this,  that  the  manner  of  ^Eschines 
is  softer,  more  insinuating,  and  more  delicate  than  that  of 
Demosthenes,  but  that  the  latter  is  more  grave,  forcible,  and 
convincing.  The  one  has  more  of  address,  and  the  other 
more  of  strength  and  energy.  The  one  endeavours  to  steal, 
the  other  to  force,  the  assent  of  his  auditors.  In  the  har- 
mony and  elegance,  the  strength  and  beauty  of  their  lan- 
guage, both  are  deserving  of  high  commendation,  but  the 
figures  of  the  one  are  finer,  of  the  other,  bolder.  In 
Demosthenes  we  see  a  more  sustained  effort ;  in  ^Eschines, 
"  vivid  though  momentary  flashes  of  oratory." 

The  following  brief  extract  from  ^Eschines'  oration  will 
afford  the  reader  a  specimen  of  his  style : 

"  When  Demosthenes  boasts  to  you,  O  Athenians,  of  his 
democratic  zeal,  examine  not  his  harangues,  but  his  life  ;  not 
what  he  professes  to  be,  but  what  he  really  is  ;  redoubtable 
in  words,  impotent  in  deeds ;  plausible  in  speech,  perfidious 
in  action.  As  to  his  courage — has  he  not  himself,  before 
the  assembled  people,  confessed  his  poltroonery?  By  the 
laws  of  Athens,  the  man  who  refuses  to  bear  arms,  the 
coward,  the  deserter  of  his  post  in  battle,  is  excluded  from 
all  share  in  the  public  deliberations,  denied  admission  to 
our  religious  rites,  and  rendered  incapable  of  receiving  the 


1 6  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


honour  of  a  crown.  Yet  now  it  is  proposed  to  crown  a  man 
whom  your  laws  expressly  disqualify  ! 

"  Which  think  you  was  the  more  worthy  citizen,  Themis- 
tocles,  who  commanded  your  fleet  when  you  vanquished  the 
Persians  at  Salamis,  or  Demosthenes,  the  deserter  ?  Mil- 
tiades,  who  conquered  the  barbarians  at  Marathon,  or  this 
hireling  traitor?  Aristides,  surnamed  the  Just,  or  Demos- 
thenes, who  merits  a  far  different  surname  ?  By  all  the 
Gods  of  Olympus,  it  is  a  profanation  to  mention  in  the  same 
breath  this  monster  and  those  great  men  !  Let  him  cite,  if 
he  can,  one  among  them  all  to  whom  a  crown  was  decreed. 
And  was  Athens  ungrateful?  No  !  She  was  magnanimous  ; 
and  those  uncrowned  citizens  were  worthy  of  Athens.  They 
placed  their  glory,  not  in  the  letter  of  a  decree,  but  in  the 
remembrance  of  a  country,  of  which  they  had  merited  well, 
— in  the  living,  imperishable  remembrance  ! 

"And  now  a  popular  orator — the  mainspring  of  our 
calamities,  a  deserter  from  the  field  of  battle,  a  deserter 
from  the  city — claims  of  us  a  crown,  exacts  the  honour  of  a 
proclamation !  Crown  him  ?  Proclaim  his  worth  ?  My 
countrymen,  this  would  not  be  to  exalt  Demosthenes,  but 
to  degrade  yourselves, — to  dishonor  those  brave  men  who 
perished  for  you  in  battle.  Crown  him !  Shall  his 
recreancy  win  what  was  denied  to  their  devotion  ?  This 
would  indeed  be  to  insult  the  memory  of  the  dead,  and  to 
paralyse  the  emulation  of  the  living  ! 

"  From  those  who  fell  at  Marathon  and  at  Plataea — from 
Themistocles — from  the  sepulchres  of  your  ancestors — issues 
the  protesting  groan  of  condemnation  and  rebuke  !  " 

^schines  did  not  receive  a  fifth  part  of  the  votes  of  the 
judges,  and  in  consequence,  by  the  laws  of  Athens,  he  thus 
became  liable  to  fine  and  banishment,  and  accordingly  went 
in  exile  to  Rhodes.  He  established  there  a  school  in  rheto- 
ric, in  which  he  read  the  two  orations  to  his  pupils.  While 
his  was  received  with  approbation,  that  of  Demosthenes  was 
received  with  the  greatest  applause.  "  What  then  would 
you  have  thought,  had  you  heard  the  lion  himself,"  said 
^Eschines. 


ORATORY  IN  GREECE.  I/ 


"  The  greatest  oration  of  the  greatest  orator,"  said  Lord 
Brougham  of  this  speech.  The  oration  abounds  in  eloquent 
passages,  and  in  magnificent  expressions. 

From  this  oration,  which  for  sarcasm,  invective,  and 
declamation,  as  well  as  all  that  is  glorious  in  eloquence,  has 
no  equal,  in  any  language,  the  author  selects  the  following 
passage,  containing  the  celebrated  oath  by  those  who  fell  at 
Marathon,  and  setting  forth  the  public  spirit  of  the  Athen- 
ians :  "  The  Athenians  never  were  known  to  live  contented 
in  a  slavish  though  secure  obedience  to  unjust  and  arbitrary 
power.  No.  Our  whole  history  is  a  series  of  gallant  con- 
tests for  pre-eminence ;  the  whole  period  of  our  national 
existence  hath  been  spent  in  braving  dangers  for  the  sake 
of  glory  and  renown.  And  so  highly  do  you  esteem  such 
conduct  as  characteristic  of  the  Athenian  spirit,  that  those 
of  your  ancestors  who  were  most  eminent  for  it  are  ever  the 
most  favourite  objects  of  your  praise.  And  with  reason  ;  for 
who  can  reflect,  without  astonishment,  on  the  magnanimity 
of  those  men  who  resigned  their  lands,  gave  up  their  city,  and 
embarked  in  their  ships  rather  than  live  at  the  bidding  of  a 
stranger?  The  Athenians  of  that  day  looked  out  for  no 
speaker,  no  general,  to  procure  them  a  state  of  easy  slavery. 
They  had  the  spirit  to  reject  even  life,  unless  they  were 
allowed  to  enjoy  that  life  in  freedom.  For  it  was  a  princi- 
ple fixed  deeply  in 'every  breast,  that  man  was  not  born  to 
his  parents  only,  but  to  his  country.  And  mark  the  distinc- 
tion. He  who  regards  himself  as  born  only  to  his  parents 
waits  in  passive  submission  for  the  hour  of  his  natural  disso- 
lution. He  who  considers  that  he  is  the  child  of  his  country 
also,  volunteers  to  meet  death  rather  than  behold  that 
country  reduced  to  vassalage  ;  and  thinks  those  insults  and 
disgraces  which  he  must  endure,  in  a  state  enslaved,  much 
more  terrible  than  death. 

"  Should  I  attempt  to  assert  that  it  was  I  who  inspired 
you  with  sentiments  worthy  of  your  ancestors,  I  should 
meet  the  just  resentment  of  every  hearer.  No;  it  is  my 
point  to  show  that  such  sentiments  are  properly  your  own  ; 
that  they  were  the  sentiments  of  my  country  long  before  my 


1 8  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


days.  I  claim  but  my  share  of  merit  in  having  acted  on 
such  principles  in  every  part  of  my  administration.  He, 
then,  who  condemns  every  part  of  my  administration  ;  he 
who  directs  you  to  treat  me  with  severity,  as  one  who  hath 
involved  the  state  in  terrors  and  dangers,  while  he  labours 
to  deprive  me  of  present  honour,  robs  you  of  all  the  ap- 
plause of  posterity.  For,  if  you  now  pronounce  that,  as 
my  public  conduct  hath  not  been  right,  Ctesiphon  must 
stand  condemned,  it  must  be  thought  that  you  yourselves 
have  acted  wrong,  not  that  you  owe  your  present  state  to  the 
caprice  of  fortune.  But  it  cannot  be !  No,  my  countrymen, 
it  cannot  be  that  you  have  acted  wrong  in  encountering  dan- 
ger bravely  for  the  liberty  and  safety  of  all  Greece.  No  !  I 
swear  it  by  the  spirits  of  our  sires,  who  rushed  upon  destruc- 
tion at  Marathon  !  by  those  who  stood  arrayed  at  Plataea  ! 
by  those  who  fought  the  sea-fight  at  Salamis !  by  the  men 
of  Artemisium !  by  the  others  so  many  and  so  brave,  who 
now  rest  in  our  public  sepulchres  !  all  of  whom  their  country 
judged  worthy  of  the  same  honour ;  all,  I  say,  ^Eschines  ; 
not  those  only  who  were  victorious.  And  with  reason. 
What  was  the  part  of  gallent  men,  they  all  performed. 
Their  success  was  such  as  the  Supreme  Ruler  of  the  world 
dispensed  to  each." 

Panurge,  in  Rabelais,  when  in  need,  practised  sixty-three 
methods  of  procuring  money,  the  most  honest  of  which  was 
to  steal.  yEschines,  the  rival  of  Demosthenes,  likewise  left 
no  stone  unturned  when  he  got  into  a  tight  place.  He  was 
guilty  of  dissimulation,  inventions  of  various  kinds,  altera- 
tions of  dates,  and  texts — all  arms,  he  thought,  lawful,  in 
his  contest  with  Demosthenes. 

The  style  of  Demosthenes  is  "  strong  and  concise,  though 
sometimes,  it  must  not  be  dissembled,  harsh,  and  abrupt. 
His  words  are  very  expressive  ;  his  management  is  firm  and 
manly  ;  and  though  far  from  being  unmusical,  yet  it  seems 
difficult  to  find  in  him  that  studied  but  concealed  number 
and  rhythmus,  which  some  of  the  ancient  critics  are  fond 
of  attributing  to  him.  Negligent  of  these  lesser  graces,  one 
would  rather  conceive  him  to  have  aimed  at  that  sublime 


ORATORY  IN  GREECE.  ig 

which  lies  in  sentiment.  His  action  and  pronunciation  are 
recorded  to  have  been  uncommonly  vehement  and  ardent ; 
which,  from  the  manner  of  his  composition,  we  are  naturally 
led  to  believe.  The  character  which  one  forms  of  him,  from 
reading  his  works,  is  of  the  austere,  rather  than  the  gentle 
kind.  He  is  on  every  occasion  grave,  serious,  passionate  ; 
takes  everything  on  a  high  tone  ;  never  lets  himself  down, 
nor  attempts  anything  like  pleasantry.  If  any  fault  can  be 
found  with  his  admirable  eloquence,  it  is,  that  he  sometimes 
borders  on  the  high  and  dry.  He  may  be  thought  to  want 
smoothness  and  grace,  which  Dionysius  of  Halicarnassus 
attributes  to  his  imitating  too  closely  the  manner  of  Thu- 
cydides,  who  was  his  great  model  for  style,  and  whose  history 
he  is  said  to  have  written  eight  times  over  with  his  own 
hand.  But  these  defects  are  far  more  than  compensated,  by 
that  admirable  and  masterly  force  of  masculine  eloquence 
which,  as  it  overpowered  all  who  heard  it,  cannot  at  this  day 
be  read  without  emotion."  Another  critic  says  :  "  The  style 
of  Demosthenes  is  so  strong,  so  close  and  nervous ;  it  is 
everywhere  so  just,  so  exactly  concise,  that  there  is  nothing 
too  much  or  too  little.  What  distinguishes  his  eloquence  is 
the  impetuosity  of  the  expression,  the  choice  of  words,  and 
the  beauty  of  the  disposition ;  which,  being  supported 
throughout  and  accompanied  with  force  and  sweetness, 
keeps  the  attention  of  the  judges  perpetually  fixed." 

"  What  we  admire  in  Demosthenes  is  the  plan,  the  series, 
and  the  order  and  disposition  of  the  oration  ;  it  is  the 
strength  of  the  proofs,  the  solidity  of  the  arguments,  the 
grandeur  and  nobleness  of  the  sentiments  and  of  the  style, 
the  vivacity  of  the  turns  and  figures ;  in  a  word,  the  won- 
derful art  of  representing  the  subjects  he  treats  in  all  their 
lustre,  and  displaying  them  in  all  their  strength." 

The  author  of  the  Dialogues  Concerning  Eloquence 'says : 
"  Demosthenes  moves,  warms,  and  captivates  the  heart. 
Every  oration  of  his  is  a  close  chain  of  reasoning  that 
represents  the  generous  notions  of  a  soul  who  disdains 
any  thought  that  is  not  great.  His  discourses  gradually 
increase  in  force  by  greater  light  and  new  reasons,  which 


2O  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


are  always  illustrated  by  bold  figures  and  lively  images. 
One  cannot  but  see  that  he  has  the  good  of  the  republic 
entirely  at  heart,  and  that  nature  itself  speaks  in  all  his 
transports,  for  his  artful  address  is  so  masterly  that  it  never 
appears.  Nothing  ever  equalled  the  force  and  vehemence 
of  his  discourses." 

To  his  admirable  delivery,  Demosthenes,  in  his  orations, 
joined  the  equal  force  of  great  and  noble  expressions,  of 
lively  descriptions,  of  pathetic  passages,  and  of  rhetorical 
images  proper  to  affect,  and  make  strong  impressions 
upon  the  mind.  In  short,  nearly  all  his  orations  are  full 
of  expressive  figures,  of  frequent  apostrophes,  and  reiter- 
ated interrogations,  which  gave  life  and  vigour  to,  and 
animated  all  he  said. 

Longinus,  in  his  comparison  between  Demosthenes  and 
Cicero,  compares  the  eloquence  of  the  former  to  lightning, 
and  of  the  latter  to  a  great  fire.  He  says  the  eloquence  of 
Demosthenes  is  a  whirlwind  and  a  clap  of  thunder  that 
overturns  all  things,  and  that  of  Cicero  like  a  great  fire 
which  devours  all  things.  So  that  violence  and  impetuous- 
ness  make  up  the  character  of  Demosthenes'  eloquence,  and 
the  progress  of  a  great  fire,  which  advances  by  degrees,  to- 
gether with  the  heat  and  insinuating  virtue  of  fire,  are  the 
principal  qualities  of  that  of  Cicero.  The  Grecian  breaks 
out  like  thunder.  The  Roman  warms  and  inflames  like  a 
great  fire.  Longinus  therefore  adds  that  Demosthenes 
never  failed  of  success,  when  he  was  to  strike  terror  into  the 
minds  of  his  audience,  and  to  work  upon  them  by  strong 
representations  and  violent  motions.  But  when  it  was 
necessary  to  go  to  the  very  heart,  and  to  insinuate  one's 
self  into  the  mind,  by  all  those  graces  and  pleasing  charms 
which  eloquence  is  mistress  of ;  then  it  was  that  Cicero's  art 
was  triumphant,  and  that  his  diffused,  enlarged  discourse 
succeeded  far  better  than  the  more  close  and  concise  style 
of  Demosthenes  ;  and  the  one  is  no  more  prevalent  by  the 
eclat,  the  surprising  strength  of  his  reasons,  than  the  other 
is  by  the  warming  and  affecting  emotions  he  raises. 

It  is  said  that  before  the  time  of  Demosthenes,  "  there 


ORATORY  IN  GREECE.  21 


existed  three  distinct  styles  of  eloquence  :  that  of  Lysias, 
mild  and  persuasive,  quietly  engaged  the  attention,  and 
won  the  assent  of  an  audience ;  that  of  Thucydides,  bold 
and  animated,  awakened  the  feelings  and  powerfully  forced 
conviction  on  the  mind ;  while  that  of  Isocrates  was,  as  it 
were,  a  combination  of  the  two  former.  Demosthenes  can 
scarcely  be  said  to  have  proposed  any  individual  as  a  model, 
although  he  bestowed  so  much  untiring  labor  on  the  histo- 
ian  of  the  Peloponnesian  war.  He  rather  culled  all  that  was 
valuable  from  the  various  styles  of  his  great  predecessors, 
working  them  up,  and  blending  them  into  one  harmonious 
whole :  not,  however,  that  there  is  such  a  uniformity  or 
mannerism  in  his  works  as* prevents  him  from  applying  him- 
self with  versatility  to  a  variety  of  subjects  ;  on  the  contrary, 
he  seems  to  have  had  the  power  of  carrying  each  individual 
style  to  perfection,  and  of  adapting  himself  with  equal  excel- 
lence to  each  successive  topic.  In  the  general  structure  of 
many  of  his  sentences,  he  resembles  Thucydides  ;  but  he  is 
more  simple  and  perspicuous,  and  better  calculated  to  be 
quickly  comprehended  by  an  audience.  On  the  other  hand 
his  clearness  in  narration,  his  elegance  and  purity  of  diction, 
and  (to  borrow  a  metaphor  from  a  sister  art)  his  correct 
keeping,  remind  the  reader  of  Lysias.  But  the  argumenta- 
tive part  of  the  speeches  of  Lysias  are  often  deficient  in 
vigour ;  whereas  earnestness,  power,  zeal,  rapidity,  and  pas- 
sion, all  exemplified  in  plain,  unornamented  language,  and  a 
strain  of  close,  business-like  reasoning,  are  the  distinctive 
characteristics  of  Demosthenes.  The  general  tpne  of  his 
oratory  was  admirably  adapted  to  an  Athenian  audience, 
constituted  as  it  was  of  those  whose  habits  of  life  were 
mechanical,  and  of  those  whom  ambition  or  taste  had  led  to 
the  cultivation  of  literature.  The  former  were  captivated  by 
sheer  sense,  urged  with  masculine  force  and  inextinguish- 
able spirit,  and  by  the  forcible  application  of  plain  truths  ; 
and  yet  there  was  enough  of  grace  and  variety  to  please 
more  learned  and  fastidious  auditors."  Another  writer  says: 
"  His  style  is  rapid  harmony,  exactly  adjusted  to  the  sense ; 
it  is  vehement  reasoning,  without  any  appearance  of  art ;  it 


22  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


is  disdain,  anger,  boldness,  freedom,  involved  in  a  continued 
stream  of  argument ;  and  of  all  human  productions,  the 
orations  of  Demosthenes  present  to  us  the  .models  which 
approach  the  nearest  to  perfection." 

One  of  the  most  noticeable  excellences  of  Demosthenes  is 
the  collocation  of  his  words.  The  orators  of  ancient  Greece 
studied  assiduously  the  art  of  arranging  sentences  in  such  a 
manner  that  their  cadences  should  be  harmonious,  and,  to  a 
certain  degree,  rhythmical,  and  the  simplicity  remarkable  in 
the  structure  of  the  periods  of  Demosthenes  is  itself  the 
result  of  art. 

The  question  has  often  been  asked,  What  is  the  secret  of 
the  success  of  Demosthenes  ?  How  did  he  attain  pre-emi- 
nence among  orators  ?  Why  is  it,  that  in  a  faculty  common 
to  all  mankind — that  of  communicating  our  thoughts  and 
feelings,  in  language  and  by  gestures — the  palm  is  conceded 
to  him  by  the  consent  of  all  ages  and  countries  ?  His  ora- 
tions are  not  witty,  humorous,  nor,  ordinarily,  pathetic  nor 
learned — all  undeniable  attributes  of  eloquence.  Besides, 
he  violates  nearly  every  ancient  rule  of  technical  rhetoric. 
The  secret  of  his  success  was  this  :  He  was  an  honest  man  ; 
he  was  a  patriot ;  his  political  principles  were  not  assumed 
to  serve  an  interested  purpose,  to  be  laid  aside  when  he 
descended  the  Bema,  and  resumed  when  he  sought  to 
accomplish  an  object.  No,  his  principles  of  patriotism  were 
deeply  seated  in  his  heart,  and  emanated  from  its  profound- 
est  depths.  The  mystery  of  his  wonderful  influence,  then, 
lay  in  his  fronesty.  It  is  this,  joined  to  his  action,  that  gave 
warmth  and  tone  to  his  feelings,  an  energy  to  his  language, 
and  an  impression  to  his  manner,  before  which  every  impu- 
tation of  insincerity  must  have  vanished.  The  chief  charac- 
teristics of  Demosthenes'  oratory  were  strength,  energy, 
and  sublimity,  aided  by  an  emphatic  and  vehement  elocu- 
tion. Liberty  and  eloquence,  which  are  twin  born  and 
which  die  together,  expired  in  Greece,  with  their  noble 
defender,  Demosthenes,  and  eloquence  relapsed  again  into 
the  feeble  manner  introduced  by  the  sophists. 

Demetrius  Phalereus,  who  lived  in  the  next  age  to  Demos- 


ORATORY  IN  GREECE.  2$ 

thenes,  attained  some  reputation  as  a  speaker,  but  his  chief 
attraction  as  an  orator  was  his  highly  ornamented  diction. 
He  was  not  a  convincing  speaker,  aiming  as  he  did  at  grace 
rather  than  substance.  Cicero  says :  "  He  amused  the 
Athenians,  rather  than  warmed  them." 

We  hear  no  more  of  Grecian  orators  of  note  after  his 
time. 


CHAPTER  II. 

ORATORY    IN     ROME. 

HAVING  treated  of  the  rise  of  eloquence,  and  of  its 
state  among  the  Greeks,  the  author  will  now  pro- 
ceed to  notice  its  progress  among  the  Romans.  Here 
one  model,  at  least,  of  eloquence,  in  its  most  dazzling  and 
illustrious  form,  will  be  found. 

The  Romans  derived  their  eloquence,  poetry,  and  learning, 
chiefly  from  the  Greeks.  For  a  considerable  period  after 
the  founding  of  Rome,  the  Romans  were  a  rude,  compara- 
tively illiterate,  and  martial  people,  almost  entirely  unskilled 
in  the  polite  arts,  which  were  not  much  cultivated  until 
after  the  conquest  of  Greece.  In  eloquence,  it  is  thought, 
the  Romans  were  inferior  to  the  Greeks,  in  some  respects. 
They  were  certainly  more  grave  and  magnificent,  but  less 
acute  and  spritely.  Compared  to  the  Greeks  the  Romans 
were  a  phlegmatic  nation,  their  passions  were  not  so  easily 
moved,  and  their  conceptions  were  not  so  lively.  But  after 
the  introduction  of  Greek  learning  at  Rome,  eloquence,  of 
all  the  arts  next  to  war,  was  of  most  importance.  For  if 
war  led  to  the  conquests  of  foreign  states,  eloquence  opened 
to  each  individual  a  path  to  dominion  and  empire  over  the 
minds  and  hearts  of  his  countrymen.  It  was  the  opinion  of 
Cicero  that  without  this  art  wisdom  itself  could  be  of  little 
avail  for  the  advantage  or  glory  of  the  commonwealth. 

There  was  little  room  for  the  exercise  of  legal  oratory 
during  the  existence  of  the  monarchy,  and  in  the  early  ages 
of  the  republic,  because  law  proceedings  were  not  numerous. 

24 


ORATORY  nv  ROME.  2$ 


Civil  suits  were  prevented  to  a  great  extent  by  the  absolute 
dominion  which  a  Roman  father  exercised  over  his  family, 
and  the  severity  of  the  decernviral  laws,  in  which  all  the 
proceedings  were  extreme,  frequently  forced  parties  into 
an  accommodation.  At  the  same  time,  the  purity  of  ancient 
manners,  had  not  yet  given  rise  to  those  criminal  questions 
of  bribery,  extortion,  and  peculation  at  home  or  of  oppres- 
sion in  the  provinces,  which  disgraced  the  closing  periods  of 
the  commonwealth,  and  furnished  fruitful  themes  for  the 
indignant  oratory  of  Cicero  and  Hortensius.  Consequently 
whatever  eloquence  may  have  been  cultivated  in  the  early 
ages  of  Rome  was  of  a  political  character,  and  was  exerted 
on  affairs  of  state. 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  however,  from  what  has  been 
said,  that  there  were  no  orators  of  eminence  in  Rome  before 
the  age  of  Hortensius  and  Cicero.  From  the  earliest  times 
of  the  republic  the  oratorical  abilities  of  Junius  Brutus,  Pub- 
licola,  and  Appius  Claudius  were  called  into  requisition  for 
the  purpose  of  allaying  seditions,  suppressing  rebellions,  and 
thwarting  pernicious  counsels.  Romulus,  by  direction  of 
his  grandfather,  made  a  speech  to  the  people  soon  after  the 
completion  of  the  city,  on  the  subject  of  the  government  to 
be  established.  This  speech  is  given  in  Dionysius  of  Hali- 
carnassus  (Lib.  II.). 

Although  many  speeches  are  reported  by  Dionysius  and 
Livy,  no  adequate  opinion  can  be  formed  of  their  oratorical 
merits,  for  the  reason  that  they  were  probably  composed  by 
these  historians  and  adorned  by  them  with  all  the  arts  of 
rhetoric.  Judging,  however,  from  the  effect  which  the 
speeches  of  these  orators  in  the  early  ages  of  Rome  pro- 
duced, they  must  have  possessed  a  masculine  vigour  well 
calculated  to  protect  the  interests  of  the  state,  and  to  ani- 
mate the  courage  of  the  Roman  soldiery.  But  "  a  nation 
of  outlaws,  destined  from  their  cradle  to  the  profession  of 
arms, — taught  only  to  hurl  the  spear  and  the  javelin,  and 
inure  their  bodies  to  other  martial  exercises, — with  souls 
breathing  only  conquest, — and  regarded  as  the  enemies  of 
every  state  till  they  had  become  its  masters,  could  have 


26  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


possessed  but  few  topics  of  illustration  or  embellishment, 
and  were  not  likely  to  cultivate  any  species  of  rhetorical 
refinement.  To  convince  by  solid  arguments  when  their 
cause  was  good,  and  to  fill  their  fellow-citizens  with  passions 
corresponding  to  those  with  which  they  were  themselves 
animated,  would  be  the  great  objects  of  an  eloquence  sup- 
plied by  nature  and  unimproved  by  study.  We  are  accord- 
ingly informed  by  some  of  the  ancient  writers  "  that  though 
there  appeared  in  the  ancient  orations  some  traces  of  original 
genius,  and  much  force  of  argument,  they  bear  in  their 
rugged  and  unpolished  periods  the  signs  of  the  times  in 
which  they  were  delivered." 

The  speech  of  Appius  Claudius  in  opposition  to  a  peace 
with  Pyrrhus,  is  the  only  one  mentioned  by  the  Latin 
writers  as  possessing  the  charms  of  oratory,  prior  to  the 
time  of  Cornelius  Cethegus,  who  lived  during  the  second 
Punic  war,  and  was  consul  about  the  year  550.  Cethegus 
was  particularly  distinguished  for  his  "  admirable  sweetness 
of  elocution  and  powers  of  persuasion." 

The  speeches  of  Cato  the  Censor  were  chiefly  noted  for 
their  patriotism  and  their  rude  but  masculine  eloquence.  It 
is  said  that  when  Cato  was  in  the  decline  of  life  "  a  more 
rich  and  copious  mode  of  speaking  at  length  began  to  pre- 
vail. S.  Galba,  by  the  warmth  and  animation  of  his  delivery, 
eclipsed  Cato  and  all  his  contemporaries.  He  was  the  first 
among  the  Romans  who  displayed  the  distinguishing  talents 
of  an  orator,  by  embellishing  his  subject,  by  digressing,  am- 
fplifying,  entreating,  and  employing  what  are  called  topics, 
[or  commonplaces  of  discourse.  On  one  occasion,  while 
defending  himself  against  a  grave  accusation,  he  melted  his 
judges  to  compassion  by  producing  an  orphan  relative, 
whose  father  had  been  a  favourite  of  the  people.  When  his 
orations,  however,  were  afterwards  reduced  to  writing,  their 
fire  appeared  extinguished,  and  they  preserved  none  of  that 
lustre  with  which  his  discourses  are  said  to  have  shone 
when  given  forth  by  the  living  orator.  Cicero  accounts  for 
this  from  his  want  of  sufficient  study  and  art  in  composi- 
tion. While  his  mind  was  occupied  and  warmed  with  his 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  ROME.  2/ 


subject,  his  language  was  bold  and  rapid  ;  but  when  he  took 
up  the  pen  his  emotion  ceased,  and  the  periods  fell  languid 
from  its  point,  "  which,"  continues  he,  "  never  happened  to 
those  who,  having  cultivated  a  more  studied  and  polished 
style  of  oratory,  wrote  as  they  spoke.  Hence  the  mind  of 
Laelius  yet  breathes  in  his  writings,  though  the  force  of 
Galba  has  failed." 

Galba,  however,  was  highly  esteemed  by  the  judges,  the 
people,  and  Laelius  himself,  as  appears  from  the  following 
anecdote :  "  Laelius  being  entrusted  with  the  defence  of 
certain  persons  suspected  of  having  committed  a  murder 
in  the  Sicilian  forest,  spoke  for  two  days,  correctly,  elo- 
quently, and  with  the  approbation  of  all,  after  which  the 
consuls  deferred  judgment.  He  then  recommended  the 
accused  to  carry  their  cause  to  Galba,  as  it  would  be 
defended  by  him  with  more  heat  and  vehemence.  Galba, 
in  consequence,  delivered  a  most  forcible  and  pathetic  ha- 
rangue, and  after  it  was  finished,  his  clients  were  absolved 
as  if  by  acclamation." 

Cicero  compares  Laelius  with  his  friend  Scipio  Africanus, 
in  whose  presence  this  question  concerning  the  Sicilian  mur- 
der was  debated.  They  were  almost  equally  distinguished 
for  their  eloquence ;  and  they  were  like  each  other  in  this 
respect,  that  they  both  always  delivered  themselves  in  a 
smooth  manner,  and  never,  like  Galba,  "  exerted  themselves 
with  loudness  of  speech  or  violence  of  gesture."  Their  style 
of  oratory,  however  was  unlike, — Laelius  adopting  a  much 
more  ancient  phraseology  than  that  adopted  by  his  friend. 
Cicero  was  most  inclined  to  admire  the  oratory  of  Scipio, 
but  his  contemporaries  awarded  the  palm  of  eloquence  to 
Laelius. 

The  introduction  of  Greek  learning  about  this  time  pro- 
duced the  same  improvement  in  oratory  that  it  had  effected 
in  every  branch  of  literature. 

M.  Emilius  Lepidus  was  younger  than  Galba  or  Scipio, 
and  was  consul  in  617  A.U.C.  His  orations  were  extant  in 
Cicero's  time.  It  is  said  that  he  was  the  first  Roman  orator 
who,  in  imitation  of  the  Greeks,  gave  sweetness  and  har- 


28  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


mony  to  his  periods,  or  "  the  graces  of  a  style  regularly 
polished  and  improved  by  art." 

Cicero  mentions  many  other  orators  of  the  same  age  with 
Lepidus,  and  gives  a  minute  account  of  their  different  styles 
of  oratory.  Among  them  are  the  most  prominent  men  of 
the  period,  as  Scipio  Nasica,  Emilius  Paulus,  and  Mucius 
Scsevola. 

The  political  situation  of  Rome,  consequent  upon  the 
disputes  which  continually  arose  between  the  patricians 
and  the  plebeians  ;  the  frequent  impeachment  of  corrupt 
officials ;  the  inquietude  and  unrest  which  succeeded  its 
foreign  wars  ;  the  debates  concerning  agrarian  laws,  afforded 
ample  room  for  the  display  of  forensic  and  political  oratory. 

Oratory  continued  to  open  the  most  direct  path  to  digni- 
ties during  the  whole  period  prior  to  the  breaking  out  of  the 
civil  wars,  when  her  sweet  voice  was  drowned  by  the  horrid 
din  of  war. 

The  Gracchi  were  factious  demagogues  who  endeavoured 
to  inflame  the  passions  of  the  poor  against  the  rich.  Instead 
of  pointing  out  to  the  rich  the  good  qualities  and  the  dire 
necessities  of  the  poor,  and  of  calling  the  attention  of  the 
poor  to  the  many  admirable  qualities  of  the  rich,  they  made 
the  vices  of  the  rich  the  constant  themes  of  their  most  im- 
passioned declamations.  But,  notwithstanding  their  dema- 
gogical character,  the  influence  which  the  celebrated  brothers 
exerted  over  the  people  is  a  sufficient  proof  of  their 
eloquence. 

Tiberius  Gracchus  made  oratory  a  serious  study.  He  was 
instructed  in  elocution,  in  his  boyhood,  by  his  mother  Cor- 
nelia. He  was  also  constant  in  his  attendance  upon  the 
ablest  masters  from  Greece.  When  he  entered  on  the  tur- 
bulent stage  of  Roman  life,  the  land  was  owned  by  a  few 
people,  and  the  middle  classes  which  constituted  the  strength 
of  the  ancient  republic,  were  gradually  rooted  out.  Tiberius 
Gracchus  while  passing  through  Etruria  on  his  way  to 
Numantia  found  the  country  almost  depopulated  of  free- 
men, and  at  that  time  formed  the  project  of  agrarian  law. 
While  much  in  his  political  conduct  is  worthy  of  condemna- 


ORATORY  IN  ROME.  29 


tion,  he  was  undoubtedly  eloquent,  as  the  following  speci- 
men from  Plutarch  will  show  :  "  The  wild  beasts  of  Italy 
have  their  dens  to  retire  to — their  places  of  refuge  and  re- 
pose ;  while  the  brave  men  who  shed  their  blood  in  the  cause 
of  their  country  have  nothing  left  but  fresh  air  and  sun- 
shine. Without  houses,  without  settled  habitations,  they 
wander  from  place  to  place  with  their  wives  and  children ; 
and  their  commanders  do  but  mock  them  when,  at  the  head 
of  their  armies,  they  exhort  their  soldiers  to  fight  for  their 
sepulchres  and  altars.  For,  among  such  numbers,  there  is 
not  one  Roman  which  belonged  to  his  ancestors,  or  a  tomb 
in  which  their  ashes  repose.  The  private  soldiers  fight  and 
die  to  increase  the  wealth  and  luxury  of  the  great ;  and  they 
are  styled  sovereigns  of  the  world,  while  they  have  not  one 
foot  of  ground  they  can  call  their  own."  The  violent  course 
pursued  by  Tiberius  Gracchus  caused  his  death. 

Caius  Gracchus  was  endowed  with  greater  ability  than  his 
brother,  but  unfortunately  he  pursued  the  same  course,  that 
of  endeavouring  to  widen  the  breach  between  the  senate  and 
the  people.  He  was  untiring  in  his  exertions  to  lessen  the 
authority  of  the  senate,  and  increase  the  authority  of  the 
people.  He  advocated  the  colonisation  of  the  public  lands, 
and  their  distribution  among  the  poor ;  the  regulation  of 
the  markets,  so  as  to  diminish  the  price  of  bread,  and  for 
vesting  the  judicial  power  in  the  knights. 

Though  much  alike  in  character,  and  in  their  political 
conduct,  there  was  a  considerable  difference  between  the 
forensic  demeanour  and  style  of  oratory  of  the  two  brothers. 
"  Tiberius,  in  his  looks  and  gesture,  was  mild  and  composed, 
Caius  earnest  and  vehement ;  so  that  when  they  spoke 
in  public  Tiberius  had  the  utmost  moderation  in  his  action 
and  moved  not  from  his  place  ;  whereas  Caius  was  the  first 
of  the  Romans  who,  in  addressing  the  people,  walked  to 
and  fro  in  the  rostrum,r  threw  his  gown  off  his  shoulder, 
smote  his  thigh,  and  exposed  his  arm  bare.  The  language 
of  Tiberius  was  laboured  and  accurate,  that  of  Caius  bold 
and  figurative.  The  oratory  of  the  former  was  of  a  gentle 
kind,  and  pity  was  the  emotion  it  chiefly  raised — that  of 


30  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


the  latter  was  strongly  impassioned,  and  calculated  to  excite 
terror.  In  speaking,  indeed,  Caius  was  so  often  hurried 
away  by  the  violence  of  his  passion  that  he  exalted  his 
voice  above  the  regular  pitch,  indulged  in  abusive  expres- 
sions, and  disordered  the  whole  tenor  of  his  oration.  In 
order  to  guard  against  such  excesses,  he  stationed  a  slave 
behind  him  with  an  ivory  flute,  which  was  modulated  so  as 
to  lead  him  to  lower  or  heighten  the  tone  of  his  voice,  ac- 
cording as  the  subject  required  a  higher  or 'a  softer  key. 
Says  Cicero,  "  The  flute  you  may  as  well  leave  at  home,  but 
the  meaning  of  the  practice  you  must  remember  at  the 
bar." 

Oratory  became  an  object  of  assiduous  study  in  the  time 
of  the  Gracchi.  The  custom  was  to  introduce  a  young  man 
intended  for  the  study  of  the  law  to  one  of  the  most  distin- 
guished orators  of  the  city,  whom  he  attended  when  he  had 
occasion  to  speak  on  a  public  or  private  cause,  or  in  the 
assemblies  of  the  people.  In  doing  this,  he  not  only  heard 
him,  but  every  other  noted  speaker.  By  pursuing  this 
course  he  became  practically  acquainted  with  business,  and 
the  method  of  administering  justice  in  the  courts,  and 
learned  the  arts  of  oratorical  conflict,  as  it  were,  in  the  field 
of  battle.  "  It  animated  the  courage  and  quickened  the 
judgment  of  youth,  thus  to  receive  their  instructions  in  the 
eye  of  the  world,  and  in  the  midst  of  affairs,  where  no  one 
could  advance  an  absurd  or  weak  argument  without  being 
exposed  by  his  adversary,  and  despised  by  the  audience. 
Hence,  they  also  had  an  opportunity  of  acquainting  them- 
selves with  the  various  sentiments  of  the  people,  and  ob- 
serving what  pleased  or  disgusted  them  in  the  several  orators 
of  the  Forum.  By  these  means  they  were  furnished  with 
an  instructor  of  the  best  and  the  most  improving  kind,  ex- 
hibiting not  the  feigned  resemblance  of  eloquence,  but  her 
real  and  lively  manifestation — not  a  pretended  but  genuine 
adversary,  armed  in  earnest  for  the  combat — an  audience 
ever  full  and  ever  new,  composed  of  foes  as  well  as  of  friends, 
and  amongst  whom  not  a  single  expression  could  fall  but 
was  either  censured  or  applauded." 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  ROME.  3 1 


The  advantages  derived  from  fictitious  oratorical  contests 
were  also  given  to  the  youth  of  the  city  by  the  introduction 
of  debating  societies  at  Rome  about  the  middle  of  its  seventh 
century.  In  the  year  66 1  A.U.C.,  Plotius  Callus,  a  Latin 
rhetorician,  opened  a  declaiming  school  at  Rome,  but  the 
declamations  turned  on  questions  of  real  business. 

From  these  facts  it  is  evident  that  in  the  middle  of  the 
seventh  century  oratory  was  sedulously  studied,  and  univer- 
sally practised,  and  that  there  must  have  been  many  profi- 
cients. It  would  be  an  endless  task  to  enumerate  all  the  public 
speakers  mentioned  by  Cicero,  the  extensiveness  of  whose  cat- 
alogue is  only  equalled  by  its  dryness.  The  author  will 
therefore  proceed  to  Marcus  Antonius  and  Lucius  Crassus, 
whom  Cicero  celebrates  as  having  first  raised  the  glory  of 
Roman  eloquence  to  an  equality  with  that  of  Greece. 

Marcus  Antonius  was  the  grandfather  of  the  famous 
triumvir.  He  was  the  most  popular  orator  of  his  time,  and 
was  chiefly  courted  by  clients  because  of  his  ability,  and  the 
fact  that  he  was  always  ready  to  undertake  any  cause  which 
was  offered  to  him.  It  is  said  that  he  possessed  a  ready 
memory  and  remarkable  talent  of  introducing  everything 
where  it  could  be  placed  with  most  effect.  "  He  had  a  frank- 
ness of  manner  which  precluded  any  suspicion  of  artifice, 
and  gave  to  all  his  orations  an  appearance  of  being  the  un- 
premeditated effusions  of  an  honest  heart.  But  though 
there  was  no  apparent  preparation  in  his  speeches,  he  always 
spoke  so  well,  that  the  judges  were  never  sufficiently  pre- 
pared against  the  effects  of  his  eloquence.  His  language 
was  not  perfectly  pure,  or  of  a  constantly  sustained  ele- 
gance, but  it  was  of  a  solid  and  judicious  character,  well 
adapted  to  his  purpose  ;  his  gesture,  too,  was  appropriate 
and  suited  to  his  sentiments  and  language  ;  his  voice  was 
strong  and  durable,  though  naturally  hoarse — but  even  this 
defect  he  turned  to  advantage,  by  frequently  and  easily 
adopting  a  mournful  and  querulous  tone,  which  in  criminal 
questions  excited  compassion,  and  more  readily  gained  the 
belief  of  the  judges." 

According  to  Cicero  he  left  very  few  orations  behind  him, 


32  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


having  determined  never  to  publish  any  of  his  pleadings, 
lest  he  should  be  found  to  have  maintained  in  one  cause 
something  which  was  inconsistent  with  what  he  had  alleged 
in  another.  Cicero  gives  an  account  of  Antony's  defence  of 
Aquilius  which  shows  his  power  of  moving  the  passions, 
and  is  also  characteristic  of  the  manner  of  Roman  plead- 
ing. In  the  dialogue  De  Oratore,  Antony,  who  is  one  of 
the  characters,  is  introduced  relating  it  himself.  "  Seeing 
his  client,  who  had  once  been  consul  and  a  leader  of  armies 
reduced  to  a  state  of  the  utmost  dejection  and  peril,  he  had 
no  sooner  begun  to  speak,  with  a  view  towards  melting  the 
compassion  of  others,  than  he  was  melted  himself.  Per- 
ceiving the  emotion  of  the  judges  when  he  raised  his  client 
from  the  earth,  on  which  he  had  thrown  himself,  he  instantly 
took  advantage  of  this  favorable  feeling.  He  tore  open  the 
garments  of  Aquilius,  and  showed  the  scars  of  those  wounds 
which  he  had  received  in  the  service  of  his  country.  Even 
the  stern  Marius  wept.  Him  the  orator  then  apostrophized, 
imploring  his  protection,  and  invoking  with  many  tears  the 
gods,  the  citizens,  and  the  allies  of  Rome.  '  But  whatever 
I  could  have  said/  remarks  he  in  the  dialogue,  *  had  I 
delivered  it  without  being  myself  moved,  it  would  have  ex- 
cited the  derision,  instead  of  the  sympathy,  of  those  who 
heard  me.' ' 

Marius  who  was  his  enemy,  in  666,  had  Antony's  head  cut 
off  and  affixed  to  the  rostrum  where  he  had  defended  the 
lives  of  so  many  of  his  fellow-citizens. 

The  greatest  forensic  rival  of  Antony,  was  Crassus,  who 
had  prepared  himself  diligently  in  his  youth  for  public  speak- 
ing by  the  study  of  oratory.  He  translated  into  Latin  some 
of  the  best  of  the  Greek  orations,  and  he  at  the  same  time 
improved  .  his  voice,  action,  and  memory  by  frequent 
exercises. 

Crassus  began  his  oratorical  career  at  nineteen,  when  he 
acquired  considerable  reputation  by  his  accusation  of  C. 
Carbo.  Not  long  afterward  he  heightened  his  fame  by  his 
defence  of  Licinia. 

The  best  speech  which  he  delivered,  however,  and  the 


ORATORY  IN  ROME.  33 


one  that  caused  his  death,  which  occurred  in  662,  he  made 
in  the  senate  against  the  Consul  Philippus,  who  had  de- 
clared, in  one  of  the  assemblies  of  the  people,  that  some 
other  advice  must  be  resorted  to,  since  he  could  no  longer 
direct  the  affairs  of  the  government  with  such  a  senate  as 
then  existed.  Crassus  arraigned  the  conduct  of  this  consul 
in  terms  of  the  most  glowing  eloquence,  alleging  that,  in- 
stead of  acting  as  the  guardian  of  the  rights  of  the  Senate, 
he  sought  to  strip  its  members  of  their  ancient  inheritance 
of  respect  and  dignity.  It  is  said  he  was  so  greatly  irritated 
by  an  attempt  on  the  part  of  Philippus  to  compel  him  to 
comply  with  his  demands,  that  he  exerted,  on  this  occa- 
sion, the  utmost  efforts  of  his  genius  and  strength  ;  unfor- 
tunately, however,  he  returned  home  with  a  pleuritic  fever, 
of  which  he  died  within  seven  days. 

This  oration  of  Crassus,  followed  as  it  was  by  his  untimely 
death,  made  a  deep  and  lasting  impression  on  his  country- 
men, who  long  afterwards  were  accustomed  to  repair  to  the 
Senate-house,  for  the  purpose  of  looking  at  the  spot  where 
he  last  stood  and  had  fallen,  virtually  in  defence  of  the 
privileges  of  his  order. 

Crassus  left  very  few  orations  behind  him.  Cicero  was  in 
his  boyhood  when  he  died,  and  having  collected  the  opinions 
of  those  who  had  heard  him,  speaks  with  a  minute  and  per- 
fect intelligence  of  his  style  of  oratory. 

His  diction  was  perhaps  more  highly  ornamented  than 
that  of  any  speaker  that  had  appeared  before  his  time  in 
the  Forum. 

He  was  grave,  dignified,  and  forcible,  but  these  qualities 
were  happily  blended  with  the  utmost  politeness,  urbanity, 
ease,  and  gaiety.  His  language  was  pure  and  accurate,  and 
he  expressed  himself  with  the  greatest  elegance. 

Clearness  and  copiousness  of  argument  and  illustration 
were  the  chief  excellences  for  which  his  orations  were  dis- 
tinguished. 

He  was  diffident  in  manner  while  speaking,  and  was  so 
much  embarrassed  on  one  occasion,  when  a  young  man, 
that  Q.  Maximus,  seeing  that  he  was  disabled  by  confu- 


34  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


sion  and  in  danger  of  making  an  utter  failure,  adjourned  the 
court.  Crassus  always  remembered  his  kindness  with  the 
highest  sense  of  gratitude.  Cicero  says  that  this  diffidence 
never  entirely  forsook  him,  and  after  the  practice  of  a  long 
life  at  the  bar  he  was  frequently  so  much  agitated  in  the 
exordium  of  his  discourse  that  he  was  observed  to  grow  pale, 
and  tremble  in  every  part  of  his  frame.  It  is  said  that 
'  some  persons  considered  Crassus  as  only  equal  to  Antony  « 
others  preferred  him  as  the  most  perfect  and  accomplished 
orator.  Antony  chiefly  trusted  to  his  intimate  acquaintance 
with  affairs  and  ordinary  life.  He  was  not,  however,  so 
destitute  of  knowledge  as  he  seemed ;  but  he  thought  the 
best  way  to  recommend  his  eloquence  to  the  people  was  to 
appear  as  if  he  had  never  learned  anything.  Crassus,  on  the 
other  hand,  was  well  instructed  in  literature,  and  showed  of! 
his  information  to  the  best  advantage.  Antony  possessed 
the  greater  power  of  promoting  conjecture,  and  of  allaying 
or  exciting  suspicion,  by  apposite  and  well-timed  insinua- 
tions ;  but  no  one  could  have  more  copiousness  or  facility 
than  Crassus  in  defining,  interpreting,  and  discussing  the 
principles  of  equity.  The  language  of  Crassus  was  indis- 
putably preferable  to  that  of  Antony ;  but  the  action  and 
gesture  of  Antony  were  as  incontestably  superior  to  those 
of  Crassus. 

Sulpicius  and  Cotta  were  born  about  630  A.U.C.  They 
were  for  some  time  contemporaries  of  Antony  and  Crassus, 
but  were  younger  orators.  They  had,  however,  achieved 
considerable  reputation  before  the  death  of  the  latter  and 
assassination  of  the  former.  For  some  years  Sulpicius  was 
respected  and  admired,  but  about  the  year  665,  being  then 
a  tribune,  he  espoused  the  cause  of  Marius,  at  the  first 
breaking  out  of  the  dissensions  between  Sylla  and  Marius. 
At  this  time,  it  may  be  safely  said  that  he  became  one  of 
the  greatest  villains  in  Rome,  although  that  city  could  boast 
of  a  large  assortment  of  villains  at  this  conjuncture.  Cruel 
and  avaricious,  he  committed,  without  hesitation  or  reluc- 
tance, the  most  criminal  actions.  It  is  said  that  he  sold  by 
public  auction  the  freedom  of  Rome  to  foreigners,  telling 


OX  A  TORY  IN  ROME.  35 


out  the  purchase  money  on  counters  erected  in  the  Forum 
for  that  purpose.  He  kept  three  thousand  swordsmen  about 
him  in  constant  pay,  ready  on  any  occasion  to  do  his  bid- 
ding, and  these  he  called  his  anti-senatorian  band.  While 
Marius  was  in  power,  Sulpicius,  as  tribune,  transacted 
all  public  affairs  by  violence  and  force  of  arms.  He  decreed 
to  Marius  the  command  in  the  Mithridatic  war.  With  his 
band  he  attacked  the  consuls  while  they  were  holding  an 
assembly  of  the  people  in  the  temple  of  Castor  and  Pollux, 
and  deposed  one  of  them.  Sylla,  however,  having  at  length 
gained  the  ascendency,  Marius  was  expelled  and  Sulpicius 
was  seized  and  put  to  death  in  the  bloom  of  his  youth  and 
beauty,  justly  punished  for  the  many  crimes  which  he  had 
committed.  Notwithstanding  his  villainy  he  was  endowed 
with  great  oratoric  powers.  It  is  said  that  he  was  the  most 
lofty,  and  what  Cicero  called  the  most  tragic,  orator  of 
Rome ;  that  "  his  attitudes,  deportment,  and  figure  were  of 
supreme  dignity  ;  his  voice  was  powerful  and  sonorous  ;  his 
elocution  rapid  ;  his  action  variable  and  animated. 

Cotta,  being  constitutionally  weak,  was  not  vehement  in 
manner,  but  soft  and  relaxed.  Everything  he  said,  how- 
ever, was  in  good  taste,  and  he  often  led  the  judges  to  the 
same  conclusion  to  which  Sulpicius  impelled  them.  Says 
Cicero  :  "  No  two  things  were  ever  more  unlike  than  they 
are  to  each  other.  The  one,  in  a  polite,  delicate  manner, 
sets  forth  his  subject  in  well-chosen  expressions.  He  still 
keeps  to  the  point  ;  and  as  he  sees  with  the  greatest  penetra- 
tion what  he  has  to  prove  to  the  court,  he  directs  to  that 
the  whole  strength  of  his  reasoning  and  eloquence,  without 
regarding  other  arguments.  But  Sulpicius,  endowed  with 
irresistible  energy,  with  a  full,  strong  voice,  with  the  greatest 
vehemence  and  dignity  of  action,  accompanied  with  so  much 
weight  and  variety  of  expression,  seemed,  of  all  mankind, 
the  best  fitted  by  nature  for  eloquence." 

The  renown,  however,  of  all  preceding  orators  at  Rome 
was  eclipsed  by  Hortensius,  who  "  burst  forth  in  eloquence 
at  once  calculated  to  delight  and  astonish  his  fellow-citizens.'* 
This  famous  orator  was  born  in  the  year  640,  and  was  ten 


36  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 

years  younger  than  Cotta  and  Sulpicius.  At  the  early  age 
of  nineteen  he  made  his  first  appearance  in  the  Forum,  and 
Cicero,  his  rival,  but  his  just  and  impartial  critic,  says:  "  His 
excellence  was  immediately  acknowledged,  like  that  of  a 
statue  by  Phidias,  which  only  requires  to  be  seen  in  order 
to  be  admired." 

The  case  in  which  he  first  appeared  was  one  of  consider- 
able importance,  being  an  accusation  at  the  instance  of  the 
Roman  province  of  Africa  against  its  governors  for  rapacity. 
It  was  heard  before  Scaevola  and  Crassus,  as  judges — the 
former  being  the  ablest  lawyer,  and  the  latter  the  most 
accomplished  speaker,  of  his  age.  The  young  orator  had 
the  good  fortune  to  win  not  only  their  approbation  but 
that  of  every  one  present  at  the  trial.  For  many  years 
he  was  the  greatest  forensic  orator  at  Rome,  and  was  the 
acknowledged  head  of  the  Roman  bar.  Cicero  says  :  "  Na- 
ture had  given  him  so  happy  a  memory  that  he  never  had 
need  of  committing  to  writing  any  discourse  which  he  had 
meditated,  while,  after  his  opponent  had  finished  speaking, 
he  could  recall,  word  by  word,  not  only  what  the  other  had 
said,  but  also  the  authorities  which  had  been  cited  against 
himself."  As  a  proof  of  his  excellent  memory,  Seneca  says 
that,  for  a  trial  of  it,  he  remained  a  whole  day  at  a  public 
auction,  and  when  it  was  concluded,  he  repeated  in  order 
.-what  had  been  sold,  to  whom,  and  at  what  price.  His  state- 
ment was  compared  with  the  clerk's  account,  and  his  memory 
was  found  to  have  served  him  faithfully  in  every  particular. 
Cicero  also  says  of  him  :  "  His  industry  was  indefatigable. 
He  never  let  a  day  pass  without  speaking  in  the  forum,  or 
preparing  himself  to  appear  on  the  morrow  ;  oftentimes  he 
did  both.  He  excelled  particularly  in  the  art  of  dividing 
his  subject,  and  in  then  reuniting  it  in  a  luminous  manner, 
calling  in,  at  the  same  time,  even  some  of  the  arguments 
which  had  been  used  against  him.  His  diction  was  elegant, 
noble,  and  rich  ;  his  voice  was  strong  and  pleasing  ;  his  ges- 
tures carefully  studied." 

The  elegance  and  aptitude  for  public  business  of  Horten- 
sius  procured  for  him  not  only  a  fortune,  but  the  highest 


ORATORY  IN  ROME.  37 


official  honours  of  the  state.  Want  of  competition,  and  the 
formation  of  luxurious  habits,  however,  caused  him  gradu- 
ally to  relax  that  assiduity  which  had  contributed  so  largely 
to  his  success.  The  growing  fame  of  Cicero,  however,  stimu- 
lated him  to  renew  his  exertions.  He  never,  however,  re- 
covered his  former  reputation.  Cicero  partly  accounts  for 
this  decline  from  the  peculiar  nature  and  genius  of  his  ora- 
tory. His  oratory  was  Asiatic  in  character,  being  full  of 
brilliant  thought  and  sparkling  expressions,  and  was  much 
more  florid  and  ornamental  than  that  of  Cicero  himself. 

This  glowing  style  of  oratory,  though  lacking  in  deficiency 
and  weight,  was  not  unsuitable  in  a  young  man,  and  being 
further  recommended  by  a  beautiful  cadence,  met  with  the 
greatest  applause.  Hortensius,  as  he  advanced  in  years,  re- 
tained the  florid  style  of  oratory  which  he  had  acquired  in 
his  youth.  The  grave  fathers  of  the  senatorial  order  thought 
his  glittering  phraseology  totally  inconsistent  with  his  ad- 
vanced age  and  consular  dignity,  consequently  his  reputation 
diminished  with  increase  of  years. 

The  orations  of  Hortensius,  it  has  been  said,  suffered 
much  when  transferred  to  paper,  as  his  chief  excellence 
consisted  in  delivery. 

As  the  speeches  of  Hortensius  have  not  been  preserved, 
his  oratorical  character  rests  almost  entirely  upon  the  opin- 
ion of  his  great,  but  unprejudiced  rival,  Cicero.  The  friend- 
ship and  friendly  rivalry  of  Hortensius  and  Cicero  presents 
an  agreeable  contrast  to  the  bitter  enmity  of  ^Eschines  and 
Demosthenes.  Hortensius  also  was  free  from  any  feeling  of 
that  envy  which  is  such  an  infallible  mark  of  an  ignoble 
mind.  Cicero  has  certainly  done  the  oratorical  talents  of 
Hortensius  ample  justice,  representing  him  as  endowed  with 
nearly  all  the  qualities  necessary  to  form  a  great  orator,  as 
has  been  said.  Macrobius,  however,  says  that,  on  account  of 
his  affected  gestures,  he  was  much  ridiculed  by  some  of  his 
contemporaries.  His  adversaries  accused  him  of  being  too 
theatrical  in  his  gestures.  It  seems  that  in  pleading  it  was 
his  custom  to  keep  his  hands  almost  constantly  in  motion. 
Roscius,  the  celebrated  Roman  actor,  often  attended  his 


38  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


pleadings  to  catch  his  gestures  and  imitate  them  on  the 
stage.  According  to  Valerius  Maximus,  his  exertion  in  ac- 
tion was  so  great  that  it  was  commonly  said  that  it  could  not 
be  determined  whether  people  went  to  hear  or  to  see  him. 
Like  Demosthenes,  he  chose  and  put  on  his  dress  with  the 
most  studied  care  and  neatness.  He  also  is  said  to  have 
bathed  himself  in  odoriferous  waters,  and  to  have  daily  per- 
fumed himself  with  the  most  precious  essences.  The  only 
blemishes  in  his  oratorical  character  appear  to  have  been 
this  minute  attention  to  his  person  and  his  gesticulation. 
His  moral  conduct  was  not  free  from  blame,  because  of  his 
practice  of  sometimes  corrupting  the  judges  of  the  causes  in 
which  he  appeared,  when  he  could  do  so  with  impunity — un- 
fortunately, in  his  time,  there  were  many  defects  in  the  judi- 
cial system  of  Rome,  and  corruption  of  the  courts  was  one 
of  the  greatest  evils  of  the  age. 

It  would  be  unfair  to  omit  all  mention  of  Hortensia,  the 
daughter  of  Hortensius,  for  she  inherited  something  of  the 
spirit  'and  eloquence  of  her  father,  and  Valerius  Maximus 
tells  us  that  when  the  triumvirs  Octavius,  Lepidus,  and 
Antony  had  imposed  a  tax  upon  the  Roman  matrons,  and 
the  advocates  of  the  day  were  too  cowardly  to  accept  the 
perilous  task  of  speaking  on  their  behalf  against  the  ob- 
noxious law,  Hortensia  came  forward  as  the  champion  of 
her  sex,  and  made  such  an  eloquent  and  effective  speech 
that  the  greatest  part  of  the  tax  was  remitted.  Quintillian 
says  of  Hortensia  that  her  speech  was  well  worthy  of  perusal 
without  taking  into  account  the  sex  of  the  speaker. 

Mention  ought  also  to  be  made  of  another  Roman  lady, 
Amsesia  Sentia,  who  appeared  in  her  own  behalf  in  an  action 
which  had  been  brought  against  her.  Attracted  by  the  nov- 
elty of  the  spectacle,  an  immense  crowd  had  gathered  in 
court  to  hear  her.  She  pleaded  her  cause  with  such  eloquence 
that  she  received  at  once  an  almost  unanimous  judgment  in 
her  favour. 

Afrania,  the  wife  of  Licinius  Buccio,  a  Senator,  sometimes 
pleaded  her  own  causes  in  person  out  of  sheer  impudence. 
She  was  a  quarrelsome  and  litigious  dame,  and  was  perpetu- 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  ROME.  39 


ally  getting  into  legal  scrapes.  Her  voice  was  so  harsh  and 
unmusical  that  it  was  compared  to  the  yelp  of  a  dog.  After 
a  while  at  Rome  to  be  called  an  Afrania  was  a  reproach 
amongst  the  women  of  the  city. 

Licinius  Calvus  was  considered  as  the  rival  of  Horten- 
sius  in  eloquence,  but  his  style  of  speaking  was  the  re- 
verse of  that  of  Hortensius.  The  orations  of  Lysias  were 
his  models.  "  Hence  that  correct  and  slender  delicacy  at 
which  he  so  studiously  aimed,  and  which  he  conducted 
with  great  skill  and  elegance ;  but,  from  being  too  much 
afraid  of  the  faults  of  redundance  and  unsuitable  orna- 
ment, he  refined  and  attenuated  his  discourse  till  it  lost 
its  raciness  and  spirit.  He  compensated,  however,  for 
his  sterility  of  language  and  diminutive  figure,  by  his 
force  of  elocution  and  vivacity  of  action."  Says  Quintil- 
lian :  "  I  have  met  with  persons  who  preferred  Calvus  to 
all  our  orators ;  and  others  who  were  of  opinion  that  the 
too  great  rigor  which  he  exercised  on  himself,  in  point  of 
precision,  had  debilitated  his  oratorical  talents.  Neverthe- 
less, his  speeches,  though  chaste,  grave,  and  correct,  are 
frequently  also  vehement.  His  taste  of  writing  was  Attic  ; 
and  his  untimely  death  was  an  injury  to  his  reputation,  if 
he  designed  to  add  to  his  compositions,  and  not  to  retrench 
them.  He  delivered  his  most  noted  oration  against  Votinius 
when  he  was  twenty  years  of  age.  Votinius,  overpowered 
and  alarmed,  interrupted  him  by  exclaiming  to  the  judges: 
"  Must  I  be  condemned  because  he  is  eloquent  ?  " 

Calvus  died  at  the  early  age  of  thirty.  He  left  behind 
him  twenty-one  books  of  orations.  Pliny,  the  younger, 
made  these  orations  his  models. 

Calidius  merits  a  short  notice.  He  is  said  to  have  been 
different  from  all  other  orators — chiefly  on  account  of  "  the 
soft  and  polished  language  in  which  he  arrayed  his  exqui- 
sitely delicate  sentiments." 

"  Nothing  could  be  more  easy,  pliable,  and  ductile  than 
the  turn  of  his  periods ;  his  words  flowed  like  a  pure  and 
limpid  stream,  without  anything  hard  or  muddy  to  impede 
or  pollute  their  course ;  his  action  was  genteel,  his  mode  of 


40  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


address  sober  and  calm,  his  arrangement  the  perfection  of 
art.  Cicero  says,  while  discussing  the  merits  of  Calidius : 
'  The  three  great  objects  of  an  orator  are  to  instruct,  de- 
light, and  move/  Two  of  these  he  admirably  accomplished. 
He  rendered  the  most  abstruse  subject  clear  by  illustration,, 
and  enchained  the  minds  of  his  hearers  with  delight.  But 
the  third  praise  of  moving  and  exciting  the  soul  must  be 
denied  him  ;  he  had  no  force,  pathos,  or  animation." 

These  were  the  greatest  orators  who  preceded  Cicero,  or 
who  were  contemporaries  with  him.  It  is  said  that  at 
Rome,  in  the  time  of  Cicero,  "  the  organisation  of  the  judi- 
cial tribunals  was  wretched,  and  their  practice  scandalous. 
The  Senate,  Praetors,  and  Comitia,  all  partook  of  the  legis- 
lative and  judicial  power,  and  had  a  sort  of  reciprocal  right 
of  opposition  and  reversal,  which  they  exercised  to  gratify 
their  avarice  or  prejudices,  and  not  with  any  view  to  the 
ends  of  justice.  But  however  injurious  this  system  might 
be  to  those  who  had  claims  to  urge,  or  rights  to  defend,  it 
afforded  the  most  ample  fields  for  the  excursions  of  elo- 
quence. The  Praetors,  though  the  supreme  judges,  were 
not  men  bred  to  the  law,  advanced  in  years,  familiarised 
with  precedents,  secure  of  independence,  and  fixed  in  their 
stations  for  life.  They  were  young  men  of  little  experience, 
who  held  the  office  for  a  season,  and  proceeded,  through  it, 
to  what  were  considered  as  the  most  important  situations 
of  the  republic.  Though  their  procedure  was  strict  in  some 
trivial  points  of  preliminary  form,  devised  by  the  ancient 
jurisconsults,  they  enjoyed  in  more  essential  matters  a 
perilous  latitude.  On  the  dangerous  pretext  of  equity,  they 
eluded  the  law  by  various  subtilties  or  fictions  ;  and  thus, 
without  being  endued  with  legislative  authority,  they  abro- 
gated ancient  enactments  according  to  caprice.  It  was  worse, 
when,  in  civil  cases,  the  powers  of  the  Praetors  were  intrusted 
to  the  judges ;  or  when,  in  criminal  trials,  the  jurisdiction  was 
assumed  by  the  whole  people.  The  inexperience,  ignorance, 
and  popular  prejudices  of  those  who  were  to  decide  them, 
rendered  litigations  extremely  uncertain,  and  dependent,  not 
on  any  fixed  law  or  principle,  but  on  the  opinions  or  pas- 


ORATORY  IN  ROME.  4! 


sions  of  tumultuary  judges,  which  were  to  be  influenced  and 
moved  by  the  arts  of  oratory.  This  furnished  ample  scope 
for  displaying  all  that  interesting  and  various  eloquence 
with  which  the  pleadings  of  the  ancient  orators  abounded. 
The  means  to  be  employed  for  success  were  conciliating 
favour,  rousing  attention,  removing  or  fomenting  prejudice, 
but,  above  all,  exciting  compassion.  Hence  we  find  that,  in 
the  defence  of  a  criminal,  while  a  law  or  precedent  was 
seldom  mentioned,  everything  was  introduced  which  could 
serve  to  gain  the  favour  of  the  judges  or  move  their  pity. 
The  accused,  as  soon  as. the  day  of  trial  was  fixed,  assumed 
an  apparently  neglected  garb  ;  and  although  allowed,  what- 
ever was  the  crime,  to  go  at  large  till  sentence  was  pro- 
nounced, he  usually  attended  in  court  surrounded  by  his 
friends,  and  sometimes  accompanied  by  his  children,  in  order 
to  give  a  more  piteous  effect  to  the  lamentations  and  excla- 
mations of  his  counsel,  when  he  came  to  that  part  of  the 
oration  in  which  the  fallen  and  helpless  state  of  his  client 
was  to  be  suitably  bewailed.  Piso,  justly  accused  of  op- 
pression toward  the  allies,  having  prostrated  himself  on 
the  earth  in  order  to  kiss  the  feet  of  his  judges,  and  having 
risen  with  his  face  defiled  with  mud,  obtained  an  immediate 
acquittal.  Even  where  the  cause  was  good,  it  was  necessary 
to  address  the  passions,  and  to  rely  on  the  judge's  feelings 
of  compassion,  rather  than  on  his  perceptions  of  right. 
Rutilius  prohibited  all  exclamations  and  entreaties  to  be 
used  in  his  defence.  He  even  forbade  the  accustomed  and 
expected  excitement  of  invocations,  and  stamping  with  the 
feet;  and  "  he  was  condemned,"  says  Cicero,  "  though  the 
most  virtuous  of  the  Romans,  because  his  counsel  was  com- 
pelled to  plead  for  him  as  he  would  have  done  in  the  Repub- 
lic of  Plato."  It  thus  appears  that  it  was  dangerous  to  trust 
to  innocence  alone,  and  that  the  judges  were  the  capricious 
arbiters  of  the  fate  of  their  fellow-citizens,  and  not  (as  their 
situation  so  urgently  required)  the  inflexible  interpreters  of 
"the  laws  of  their  exalted  country. 

"  But  if  the  manner  of  treating  causes  was  favourable  to  the 
exertions  of  eloquence,  much  also  must  be  allowed  for  the 


42  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


nature  of  the  questions  themselves,  especially  those  of  a 
criminal  description,  tried  before  the  Praetor  or  people. 
One  can  scarcely  figure  more  glorious  opportunities  for  the 
display  of  oratory  than  were  afforded  by  those  complaints 
of  the  oppressed  and  plundered  provinces  against  their  rapa- 
cious governors.  From  the  extensive  ramifications  of  the 
Roman  power,  there  continually  arose  numerous  cases  of  a 
description  that  can  rarely  occur  in  other  countries,  and 
which  are  unexampled  in  the  history  of  Britain,  except  in  a 
memorable  impeachment,  which  not  merely  displayed,  but 
created  such  eloquence  as  can  be  called  forth  only  by 
splendid  topics,  without  which  rhetorical  indignation  would 
seem  extravagant,  and  attempted  pathos  ridiculous." 

"  The  spot,  too,  on  which  the  courts  of  justice  assembled, 
was  calculated  to  heighten  and  inspire  eloquence.  The 
Roman  Forum  presented  one  of  the  most  splendid  spectacles 
that  eye  could  behold,  or  fancy  conceive.  This  space 
formed  an  oblong  square  between  the  Palatine  and  Capito- 
line  hills,  composed  of  a  vast  assemblage  of  sumptuous 
though  irregular  edifices.  On  the  side  next  the  Palatine  Hill 
stood  the  ancient  Senate-house,  and  Comitium,  and  Temple 
of  Romulus  the  Founder.  On  the  opposite  quarter  it  was 
bounded  by  the  Capitol,  with  its  ascending  range  of  porti- 
cos, and  the  temple  of  the  tutelar  deity  on  the  summit.  The 
other  sides  of  the  square  were  adorned  with  basilicse,  and 
piazzas  terminated  by  triumphal  arches  ;  and  were  bordered 
with  statues,  erected  to  the  memory  of  the  ancient  heroes  or 
preservers  of  their  country.  Having  been  long  the  theatre 
of  the  factions,  the  politics,  the  intrigues,  the  crimes,  and  the 
revolutions  of  the  capital,  every  spot  of  its  surface  was  con- 
secrated to  the  recollection  of  some  great  incident  in  the 
domestic  history  of  the  Romans  ;  while  their  triumphs  over 
foreign  enemies  were  vividly  called  to  remembrance  by  the 
Rostrum  itself,  which  stood  in  the  centre  of  the  vacant  area, 
and  by  other  trophies  gained  from  vanquished  nations. 

"  A  vast  variety  of  shops,  stored  with  a  profusion  of  the 
most  costly  merchandise,  likewise  surrounded  this  heart  and 
centre  of  the  world,  so  that  it  was  the  mart  for  all  important 


ORATORY  IN  ROME.  43 


commercial  transactions.  Being  thus  the  emporium  of  law, 
politics,  and  trade,  it  became  the  resort  of  men  of  business, 
as  well  as  of  those  loiterers  whom  Horace  calls  Forenses. 
Each  Roman  citizen  regarding  himself  as  a  member  of  the 
same  vast  and  illustrious  family,  scrutinised  with  jealous 
watchfulness  the  conduct  of  his  rulers,  and  looked  with 
anxious  solicitude  to  the  issue  of  every  important  cause.  In 
all  trials  of  oppression  or  extortion,  the  Roman  multitude 
took  a  particular  interest, — repairing  in  such  numbers  to  the 
Forum  that  even  its  spacious  square  was  hardly  sufficient  to 
contain  those  who  were  attracted  to  it  by  curiosity ;  and 
who  in  the  course  of  the  trial,  were  in  the  habit  of  express- 
ing their  feelings  by  shouts  and  acclamations,'  so  that  the 
orator  was  ever  surrounded  by  a  crowded  and  tumultuary 
audience.  This  numerous  assembly,  too,  while  it  inspired 
the  orator  with  confidence  and  animation,  after  he  had 
commenced  his  harangue,  created  in  prospect  that  anxiety 
which  led  to  the  most  careful  preparation  previous  to  his 
appearance  in  public.  The  apprehension  and  even  trepida- 
tion felt  by  the  greatest  speakers  at  Rome  on  the  approach 
of  the  day  fixed  for  the  hearing  of  momentous  causes,  is  evi- 
dent from  the  many  passages  of  the  rhetorical  works  of 
Cicero.  The  Roman  orator  thus  addressed  his  judges  with 
all  the  advantages  derived  both  from  the  earnest  study 
of  the  closet,  and  the  exhilaration  imparted  to  him  by 
unrestrained  and  promiscuous  applause. 

"  Next  to  the  courts  of  justice,  the  great  theatre  for  the 
display  of  eloquence  was  the  Comitia,  or  assemblies  of  the 
people,  met  to  deliberate  on  the  proposal  of  passing  a  new 
law,  or  abrogating  an  old  one.  A  law  was  seldom  offered 
for  consideration  but  some  orator  was  found  to  dissuade  its 
adoption  ;  and  as  in  the  courts  of  justice  the  passions  of  the 
judges  were  addressed,  so  the  favourers  or  opposers  of  a  law 
did  not  confine  themselves  to  the  expediency  of  the  measure, 
but  availed  themselves  of  the  prejudices  of  the  people, 
alternately  confirming  their  errors,  indulging  their  caprices, 
gratifying  their  predilections,  exciting  their  jealousies,  and 
fomenting  their  dislikes.  Here,  more  than  anywhere,  the 


44  HISTOK  Y  OF  OR  A  TOR  Y. 


many  were  to  be  courted  by  the  few — here  more  than  any- 
where, was  created  that  excitement  which  is  most  favourable 
to  the  influence  of  eloquence,  and  forms  indeed  the  element 
in  which  alone  it  breathes  with  freedom. 

"  Finally  the  deliberations  of  the  Senate,  which  was  the 
great  council  of  the  state,  afforded,  at  least  to  its  members, 
the  noblest  opportunities  for  the  exertions  of  eloquence. 
This  august  and  numerous  body  consisted  of  individuals  who 
had  reached  a  certain  age,  who  were  possessed  of  a  certain 
extent  of  property,  wh6  were  supposed  to  be  of  un- 
blemished reputation,  and  most  of  whom  had  passed  through 
the  annual  magistracies  of  the  state.  They  were  consulted 
upon  almost  everything  that  regarded  the  administration  or 
safety  of  the  commonwealth.  The  power  of  making  war 
and  peace,  though  it  ultimately  lay  with  the  people  assem- 
bled in  the  Comitia  Centuriata,  was  generally  left  by  them 
entirely  to  the  Senate,  who  passed  a  decree  of  peace  or  war 
previous  to  the  suffrages  of  the  Comitia.  The  Senate,  too, 
had  always  reserved  to  itself  the  supreme  direction  and 
superintendence  of  the  religion  of  the  country,  and  distribu- 
tion of  the  public  revenue — the  levying  or  disband  ing  troops, 
and  fixing  the  service  on  which  they  should  be  employed — 
the  nomination  of  governors  for  the  provinces — the  rewards 
assigned  to  successful  generals  for  their  victories — and  the 
guardianship  of  the  state  in  times  of  civil  dissension.  These 
were  the  great  subjects  of  debate  in  the  Senate,  and  they 
were  discussed  on  certain  fixed  days  of  the  year,  when  its 
members  assembled  of  course,  or  when  they  were  summoned 
together  for  any  emergency.  They  invariably  met  in  a  tem- 
ple, or  other  consecrated  place,  in  order  to  give  solemnity  to 
their  proceedings,  as  being  conducted  under  the  immediate 
eye  of  Heaven.  The  Consul,  who  presided,  opened  the 
business  of  the  day  by  a  brief  exposition  of  the  question 
which  was  to  be  considered  by  the  assembly.  He  then 
asked  the  opinions  of  the  members  in  the  order  of  rank  and 
seniority.  Freedom  of  debate  was  allowed  in  its  greatest 
latitude ;  for  though  no  Senator  was  permitted  to  deliver 
his  sentiments  till  it  came  to  his  turn,  he  had  then  a  right 


ORATORY  IN  ROME.  45 


to  speak  as  long  as  he  thought  proper,  without  being  in  the 
smallest  degree  confined  to  the  point  in  question.  Some- 
times indeed  the  Conscript  Fathers  consulted  on  the  state  of 
the  commonwealth  in  general ;  but  even  when  summoned  to 
deliberate  on  a  particular  subject,  they  seem  to  have  en- 
joyed the  privilege  of  talking  about  anything  else  which 
happened  to  be  uppermost  in  their  minds.  Thus  we  find 
that  Cicero  took  the  opportunity  of  delivering  his  seventh 
Philippic  when  the  Senate  was  consulted  concerning  the 
Appian  Way,  the  coinage,  and  Luperci — subjects  which  had 
no  relation  to  Antony,  against  whom  he  inveighed  from  one 
end  of  his  oration  to  the  other,  without  taking  the  least 
notice  of  the  only  points  which  were  referred  to  the  considera- 
tion of  the  senators.  The  resolution  of  the  majority  was 
expressed  in  the  shape  of  a  decree,  which,  though  not 
properly  a  law,  was  entitled  to  the  same  reverence  on 
the  point  to  which  it  related ;  and,  except  in  matters  where 
the  interests  of  the  state  required  concealment,  all  pains 
were  taken  to  give  the  utmost  publicity  to  the  whole 
proceedings  of  the  Senate. 

The  number  of  the  Senate  varied,  but  in  the  time  of 
Cicero  it  was  nearly  the  same  as  the  British  House  of  Com- 
mons ;  but  it  required  a  larger  number  to  make  a  quorum. 
Sometimes  there  were  between  four  hundred  and  five 
hundred  members  present ;  but  two  hundred,  at  least  dur- 
ing certain  seasons  of  the  year,  formed  what  was  accounted 
a  full  house.  This  gave  to  senatorial  eloquence  something 
of  the  spirit  and  animation  created  by  the  presence  of  a 
popular  assembly,  while  at  the  same  time  the  deliberative 
majesty  of  the  proceedings  required  a  weight  of  argument 
and  dignity  of  demeanour  unlocked  for  in  the  Comitia  or 
Forum.  Accordingly,  the  levity,  ingenuity,  and  wit,  which 
were  there  so  often  crowned  with  success  and  applause,  were 
considered  as  misplaced  in  the  Senate,  where  the  consular, 
or  praetorian  orator,  had  to  prevail  by  depth  of  reasoning, 
purity  of  expression,  and  an  apparent  zeal  for  the  public 
good. 

It  was  the  authority  of  the  Senate,  with  the  calm  and  im- 


46  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


posing  aspect  of  its  deliberations,  that  gave  to  Latin  oratory 
a  somewhat  different  character  from  the  eloquence  of  Greece, 
to  which,  in  consequence  of  the  Roman  spirit  of  imitation, 
it  bore,  in  many  respects,  so  close  a  resemblance.  The 
power  of  the  Areopagus,  which  was  originally  the  most  dig- 
nified assembly  at  Athens,  had  been  retrenched  amid  the 
democratic  innovations  of  Pericles.  From  that  period, 
everything,  even  the  most  important  affairs  of  state,  de- 
pended entirely,  in  the  pure  democracy  of  Athens,  on  the 
opinion,  or  rather  the  momentary  caprice,  of  an  inconstant 
people,  who  were  fond  of  pleasure  and  repose,  who  were 
easily  swayed  by  novelty,  and  were  confident  in  their  power. 
As  their  precipitate  decisions  thus  often  hung  on  an  instant 
of  enthusiasm,  the  orator  required  to  dart  into  their  bosoms 
those  electric  sparks  of  eloquence  which  inflamed  their  pas- 
sions, and  left  no  corner  of  the  mind  fitted  for  cool  consid- 
eration. It  was  the  business  of  the  speaker  to  allow  them 
no  time  to  recover  from  the  shock,  for  its  force  could  have 
been  spent  had  they  been  permitted  to  occupy  themselves 
with  the  beauties  and  style  of  diction.  "  Applaud  not  the 
orator,"  says  Demosthenes,  at  the  end  of  one  of  his  Philip- 
pics, "  but  do  what  I  have  recommended.  I  cannot  save 
you  by  my  words,  you  must  save  yourselves  by  your 
actions."  When  the  people  were  persuaded,  everything  was 
accomplished,  and  their  decision  was  embodied  in  a  sort  of 
decree  by  the  orator.  The  people  of  Rome,  on  the  other 
hand,  were  more  reflective  and  moderate,  and  less  vain  than 
the  Athenians;  nor  was  the  whole  authority  of  the  state 
vested  in  them.  There  was,  on  the  contrary,  an  accumula- 
tion of  powers,  and  a  complication  of  different  interests  to 
be  managed.  Theoretically,  indeed,  the  sovereignty  was  in 
the  people,  but  the  practical  government  was  entrusted  to 
the  Senate.  As  we  see  from  Cicero's  third  oration,  De  Lege 
Agraria,  the  same  affairs  were  often  treated  at  the  same 
time  in  the  Senate  and  on  the  Rostrum.  Hence,  in  the 
judicial  and  legislative  proceedings,  in  which,  as  we  have 
seen,  the  feelings  of  the  judges  and  prejudices  of  the  vulgar 
were  so  frequently  appealed  to,  some  portion  of  the  sena- 


ORATORY  IN  ROME.  47 


torial  spirit  pervaded  and  controlled  the  popular  assemblies, 
restrained  the  impetuosity  of  decision,  and  gave  to  those 
orators  of  the  Forum,  or  Comitia,  who  had  just  spoken,  or 
were  to  speak  next  day  in  the  Senate,  a  more  grave  and 
temperate  tone,  than  if  their  tongues  had  never  been  em- 
ployed but  for  the  purpose  of  impelling  a  headlong 
multitude. 

But  if  the  Greeks  were  a  more  impetuous  and  inconstant, 
they  were  also  a  more  intellectual  people  than  the  Romans. 
Literature  and  refinement  were  more  advanced  in  the  age  of 
Pericles  than  of  Pompey.  Now,  in  oratory,  a  popular  au- 
dience must  be  moved  by  what  corresponds  to  the  feelings 
and  taste  of  the  age.  With  such  an  intelligent  race  as  the 
Greeks,  the  orator  was  obliged  to  employ  the  most  accurate 
reasoning,  and  most  methodical  arrangement  of  his  argu- 
ments. The  flowers  of  rhetoric,  unless  they  grew  from  the 
stem  of  his  discourse,  were  little  admired.  The  Romans,  on 
the  other  hand,  required  the  excitation  of  fancy,  of  com- 
parison, and  metaphors,  and  rhetorical  decoration.  Hence, 
the  Roman  orator  was  more  anxious  to  seduce  the  imagina- 
tion than  convince  the  understanding;  his  discourse  was 
adorned  with  frequent  digressions  into  the  fields  of  morals 
and  philanthropy,  and  he  was  less  studious  of  precision 
than  of  ornament. 

On  the  whole,  the  circumstances  of  the  Roman  constitu- 
tion and  judicial  procedure  appear  to  have  wonderfully  con- 
spired to  render  Cicero  an  accomplished  orator.  He  was 
born  and  educated  at  a  period  when  he  must  have  formed 
the  most  exalted  idea  of  his  country.  She  had  reached  the 
height  of  power,  and  had  not  yet  sunk  into  submission  or 
servility.  "  The  subjects  to  be  discussed,  and  characters  to 
be  canvassed,  were  thus  of  the  most  imposing  magnitude, 
and  could  still  be  treated  with  freedom  and  independence. 
The  education,  too,  which  Cicero  had  received,  was  highly 
favourable  to  his  improvement." 

If  the  character  of  this  work  required  that  the  author 
should  treat  of  Cicero  as  a  statesman,  a  philosopher,  a 
philanthropist,  and  as  a  writer,  he  would  shrink  from  the 


48  'HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


attempt,  and  would  feel  inclined  to  imitate  the  example  of 
the  Greek  artist,  who,  having  chosen  as  the  subject  of  his 
picture  the  sacrifice  of  Iphigenia,  employed  the  resources  of 
his  art  on  the  other  figures  of  the  group,  but  concealed  the 
countenance  of  Agamemnon  in  the  folds  of  his  robe,  and 
left  to  the  imagination  to  conceive  what  he  dared  not  ven- 
ture to  portray.  But  the  scope  of  the  present  sketch  is  not 
so  ambitious.  It  is  not  "  Cicero  as  a  statesman,  saluted  by 
the  title  of  Pater  Patrice  for  his  successful  efforts  against  the 
enemies  of  the  republic;  or  as  a  philosopher,  discussing 
amidst  the  shades  of  Tusculum  the  immortality  of  the  soul, 
and  inquiring  into  the  principles  and  grounds  of  moral 
duty  "  ;  but  Cicero  as  an  orator,  whom  he  has  to  consider. 

Marcus  Tullius  Cicero  was  born  on  the  3d  day  of  January, 
107  B.C.,  at  Arpinum,  in  ancient  times  a  small  town  of  Lati- 
um,  now  part  of  Naples. 

As  a  child  Cicero  discovered  ^  great  ardour  for  study,  and 
made  great  progress  under  his  teachers.  His  thirst  for 
knowledge  was  remarkably  great,  and  his  mind  was  well 
fitted  by  nature,  not  only  for  acquiring,  but  for  retaining  in- 
formation upon  all  subjects.  In  early  life  he  was  very  fond 
of  the  study  of  poetry,  and  one  of  his  first  teachers  was  the 
poet  Archias,  who  taught  him  the  art  of  poetry.  From  his 
earliest  years  he  is  said  to  have  distinguished  himself  in  such 
a  remarkable  manner  among  those  of  his  own  age,  that, 
hearing  of  his  extraordinary  genius,  the  parents  of  his  school- 
fellows came  on  purpose  to  the  school  to  be  eye-witnesses  of 
it,  and  were  delighted  with  what  they  saw  and  heard. 

The  Roman  youth  were  allowed  to  wear  the  toga  virilis, 
or  manly  gown,  at  sixteen.  As  has  been  said,  it  was  a  custom 
at  Rome  at  this  time  for  the  relations  or  friends  of  a  youth, 
when  he  arrived  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  and  was  designed 
for  the  bar,  to  put  him  under  the  protection  of  one  of  the 
most  celebrated  orators.  After  this  he  devoted  himself  to 
his  patron  in  a  particular  manner ;  went  to  hear  him  plead, 
consulted  him  about  his  studies,  and  did  nothing  without 
his  advice.  He  was  thus  early  accustomed,  as  it  were,  to 
breathe  the  air  of  the  bar,  which  is  the  best  school  for  a 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  ROME.  49 


young  lawyer,  and  as  he  was  the  disciple  of  the  greatest 
lawyers,  and  formed  on  the  most  finished  models,  he  was 
soon  able  to  imitate  them. 

From  Scaevola,  the  famous  Roman  lawyer,  he  acquired  a 
profound  knowledge  of  the  civil  law,  and  the  political  insti- 
tutions of  the  Romans.  He  likewise  studied  philosophy  in 
all  its  branches,  with  the  greatest  assiduity,  and  it  was  his 
opinion  that  it  contributed  more  to  making  him  an  orator 
than  rhetoric. 

Milo  was  the  most  celebrated  teacher  of  eloquence  in 
Rome,  and  under  his  direction  Cicero  applied  himself  with 
the  greatest  diligence  to  the  study  of  oratory.  He  prac- 
tised declamation  daily,  repeating  the  finest  passages  of  the 
best  poets  and  orators.  He  also  translated  the  passages  of 
the  most  eminent  Greek  orators  into  Latin — thus  enriching 
his  own  style  with  choice  expressions.  Cicero  knew  that, 
notwithstanding  his  great  natural  endowments,  he  could  not 
reach  an  exalted  position  in  the  oratorical  world,  unless  he 
submitted  to  the  severest  intellectual  discipline  and  study, 
consequently  he  was  unremitting  in  his  efforts  to  master  the 
art  of  oratory. 

By  giving  careful  attention  to  the  following  passage  from 
the  writings  of  Cicero,  the  reader  will  understand  why  Cicero 
distanced  all  his  competitors  : 

"  No  person  at  that  time  made  polite  literature  his  par- 
ticular study,  without  which  there  is  no  perfect  eloquence ; 
no  one  studied  philosophy  thoroughly,  which  alone  teaches 
us  at  one  and  the  same  time,  to  live  and  speak  well ;  no  one 
learned  the  civil  law,  which  is  absolutely  necessary  for  an 
orator,  to  enable  him  to  plead  well  in  private  causes,  and 
form  a  true  judgment  of  public  affairs  ;  there  was  no  person 
well  skilled  in  the  Roman  .history,  or  able- to  make  proper 
use  of  it  in  pleading ;  no  one  could  raise  a  cheerfulness  in 
the  judges,  and  unruffle  them,  as  it  were,  by  seasonable  rail- 
leries, after  having  vigorously  pushed  his  adversary,  by  the 
strength  and  solidity  of  his  arguments  ;  no  one  had  the  art 
of  transferring  or  converting  the  circumstance  of  a  private 
affair  into  a  common  or  general  one ;  no  person  could  some- 


50  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


times  depart  from  his  subject  by  prudent  digressions,  to 
throw  in  the  agreeable  into  his  discourse ;  in  fine,  no  person 
could  incline  the  judges  sometimes  to  anger,  sometimes  to 
compassion,  and  inspire  them  with  whatever  sentiments  he 
pleased,  wherein,  however,  the  principal  merit  of  an  orator 
consists." 

Cicero  began  to  plead  when  he  was  about  twenty-six 
years  of  age.  He  was  prevented  by  the  troubles  of  the 
state  from  attempting  it  sooner.  At  the  age  of  twenty- 
seven  he  undertook  his  first  important  case,  the  defence  of 
S.  Roscius  in  a  criminal  prosecution.  His  speech,  especially 
that  portion  of  it  relating  to  the  punishment  of  parricides, 
which  consisted  in  throwing  the  criminal,  tied  up  in  a  sack, 
into  a  river,  gained  him  great  applause,  but  was  condemned 
by  the  severer  taste  of  his  more  advanced  years.  The  pas- 
sage mentioned  is  as  follows :  "  Its  intention  was  to  strike 
the  parricide  at  once  out  of  the  system  of  nature,  by  de- 
priving him  of  air,  light,  water,  and  earth,  so  that  he  who 
had  destroyed  the  author  of  his  existence,  might  be  excluded 
from  those  elements  whence  all  things  derived  their  being. 
He  was  not  thrown  to  wild  beasts,  lest  their  ferocity  should 
be  augmented  by  the  contagion  of  such  guilt — he  was  not 
committed  naked  to  the  stream,  lest  he  should  contaminate 
that  sea  which  washed  away  all  other  pollutions.  Every- 
thing in  nature,  however  common,  was  accounted  too  good 
for  him  to  share  in ;  for  what  is  so  common  as  air  to  the 
living,  earth  to  the  dead,  the  sea  to  those  who  float,  the 
shore  to  those  who  are  cast  up.  But  the  parricide  lives  so 
as  not  to  breathe  the  air  of  heaven,  dies  so  that  the  earth 
cannot  receive  his  bones,  is  tossed  by  the  waves  so  as  not 
to  be  washed  by  them,  so  cast  on  the  shore  as  to  find  no 
rest  on  its  rocks.  V 

Not  only  was  his  eloquence  worthy  of  the  commendation 
of  his  countrymen,  but  the  courage  which  he  exhibited  as 
well.  He  was  the  only  advocate  who  dared  to  brave  the 
anger  of  Chrysogonus,  the  favorite  of  Sylla,  the  dictator, 
whose  power  in  the  commonwealth  wras  at  that  time  prac- 
tically unlimited.  Cicero  was  triumphant,  and  procured  the 


OKA  TOR  Y  IN-  ROME.  5 1 


acquittal  of  his  client.  In  the  management  of  the  case,  he 
is  said  to  have  displayed  the  loftiest  eloquence,  which  was 
received  with  shouts  of  applause  by  the  audience.  The  suc- 
cessful defence  of  Roscius  firmly  established  the  reputation 
of  Cicero  as  an  orator,  and  placed  him  in  the  first  class  of 
advocates. 

Shortly  after  the  trial  of  Roscius,  Cicero  set  out  upon  a 
tour  to  Greece  and  Asia  Minor.  He  spent  two  years  in 
these  two  countries  in  the  study  of  philosophy  and  oratory, 
under  the  best  philosophers  and  rhetoricians.  He  returned 
to  Rome  at  the  age  of  thirty,  with  his' mind  enriched  with 
the  treasures  of  Grecian  literature,  and  with  his  style  of  elo- 
quence polished  and  perfected. 

The  following  remarks  of  a  judicious  critic  upon  the  style 
of  Cicero's  oratory  will  be  found  interesting  and  instructive 
to  the  student  of  eloquence  :  "  The  object  in  this  period 
most  worthy  to  draw  our  attention,  is  Cicero  himself;  whose 
name  alone  suggests  everything  that  is  splendid  in  oratory. 
With  the  history  of  his  life  and  with  his  character,  as  a  man 
and  a  politician,  we  have  not  at  present  any  direct  concern. 
We  consider  him  only  as  an  eloquent  speaker;  and,  in  this 
view,  it  is  our  business  to  remark  both  his  virtues,  and  his 
defects,  if  he  has  any.  His  virtues  are,  beyond  controversy, 
eminently  great.  In  all  his  orations  there  is  high  art.  He 
begins,  generally,  with  a  regular  exordium  ;  and  with  much 
preparation  and  insinuation  prepossesses  the  hearers  and 
studies  to  gain  their  affections.  His  method  is  clear,  and 
his  arguments  are  arranged  with  great  propriety.  His 
method  is  indeed  more  clear  than  that  of  Demosthenes  ;  and 
this  is  one  advantage  which  he  has  over  him.  We  find 
every  thing  in  its  proper  place ;  he  never  attempts  to  move 
till  he  has  endeavoured  to  convince :  and  in  moving,  espe- 
cially the  softer  passions,  he  is  very  successful.  No  man,  that 
ever  wrote,  knew  the  power  and  force  of  words  better  than 
Cicero.  He  rolls  them  along  with  the  greatest  beauty  and 
pomp  ;  and  in  the  structure  of  his  sentences,  is  curious  and 
exact  to  the  highest  degree.  He  is  always  full  and  flowing, 
never  abrupt.  He  is  a  great  amplifier  of  every  subject ; 


$2  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


magnificent,  and  in  his  sentiments  highly  moral.  His  man- 
ner is  on  the  whole  diffuse,  yet  it  is  often  happily  varied, 
and  suited  to  the  subject.  In  his  four  orations,  for  instance, 
against  Catiline,  the  tone  and  style  of  each  of  them,  particu- 
larly the  first  and  last,  is  very  different,  and  accommodated 
with  a  great  deal  of  judgment  to  the  occasion  and  the  situa- 
tion in  which  they  were  spoken.  When  a  great  public  ob- 
ject roused  his  mind,  and  demanded  indignation  and  force, 
he  departs  considerably  from  that  loose  and  declamatory 
manner  to  which  he  inclines  at  other  times,  and  becomes 
exceedingly  cogent  and  vehement.  This  is  the  case  in  his 
orations  against  Antony,  and  in  those  too  against  Verres 
and  Catiline." 

That  he  had  defects  there  can  be  no  question.  It  is  said 
that :  ''Together  with  those  high  qualities  which  Cicero  pos- 
sesses, he  is  not  exempt  from  certain  defects,  of  which  it  is 
necessary  to  take  notice.  For  the  Ciceronian  eloquence  is 
a  pattern  so  dazzling  by  its  beauties,  that,  if  not  examined 
with  accuracy  and  judgment,  it  is  apt  to  betray  the  unwary 
into  a  faulty  imitation  ;  and  I  am  of  opinion  that  it  has 
sometimes  produced  this  effect.  In  most  of  his  orations, 
especially  those  composed  in  the  early  part  of  his  life,  there 
is  too  much  art ;  even  carried  the  length  of  ostentation. 
There  is  too  visible  a  parade  of  eloquence.  He  seems  often 
to  aim  at  obtaining  admiration,  rather  than  at  operating 
conviction,  by  what  he  says.  Hence,  on  some  occasions,  he 
is  showy,  rather  than  solid  ;  and  diffuse,  where  he  ought  to 
have  been  pressing.  His  sentences  are  at  all  times  round 
and  sonorous  ;  they  cannot  be  accused  of  monotony,  for 
they  possess  variety  of  cadence  ;  but  from  too  great  a  study 
of  magnificence,  he  is  sometimes  deficient  in  strength.  On 
all  occasions,  where  there  is  the  least  room  for  it,  he  is  full 
of  himself.  His  great  actions,  and  the  real  services  which 
he  had  performed  to  his  country,  apologise  for  this  in 
part ;  ancient  manners,  too,  imposed  fewer  restraints  from 
the  side  of  decorum  ;  but,  even  after  these  allowances  are 
made,  Cicero's  ostentation  of  himself  cannot  be  wholly  pal- 
liated ;  and  his  orations,  indeed  all  his  works,  leave  on  our 


ORATORY  IN  ROME.  53 


minds  the  impression  of  a  good  man,  but,  withal  of  a  vain 
man." 

The  following  comparison  of  Cicero  and  Demosthenes  is 
worthy  of  insertion  here  : 

"  On  the  subject  of  comparing  Cicero  and  Demosthenes, 
much  has  been  said  by  critical  writers.  The  different  man- 
ners of  these  two  princes  of  eloquence,  and  the  distinguish- 
ing characters  of  each,  are  so  strongly  marked  in  their 
writings,  that  the  comparison  is,  in  many  respects,  obvious 
and  easy.  The  character  of  Demosthenes  is  vigour  and 
austerity ;  that  of  Cicero  is  gentleness  and  insinuation.  In 
the  one,  you  find  more  manliness  ;  in  the  other,  more  orna- 
ment. The  one  is  more  harsh,  but  more  spirited  and  cogent ; 
the  other  more  agreeable,  but,  withal,  looser  and  weaker. 

"  To  account  for  this  difference,  without  any  prejudice  to 
Cicero,  it  has  been  said,  that  we  must  look  to  the  nature  of 
their  different  auditories  :  that  the  refined  Athenians  followed 
with  ease  the  concise  and  convincing  eloquence  of  Demos- 
thenes ;  but  that  a  manner  more  popular,  more  flowery,  and 
declamatory  was  requisite  in  speaking  to  the  Romans,  a 
people  less  acute,  and  less  acquainted  with  the  arts  of  speech. 
But  this  is  not  satisfactory.  For  we  must  observe,  that  the 
Greek  orator  spoke  much  oftener  before  a  mixed  multitude 
than  the  Roman.  Almost  all  the  public  business  of  Athens 
was  transacted  in  popular  assemblies.  The  common  people 
were  his  hearers  and  his  judges  ;  whereas  Cicero  generally 
addressed  himself  to  the  i  Patres  Conscripti/  or,  in  criminal 
trials,  to  the  Praetor  and  the  Select  Judges;  and  it  cannot 
be  imagined  that  the  persons  of  highest  rank  and  best  edu- 
cation in  Rome  required  a  more  diffuse  manner  of  pleading 
than  the  common  citizens  of  Athens,  in  order  to  make  them 
understand  the  cause,  or  relish  the  speaker.  Perhaps  we 
shall  come  nearer  the  truth  by  observing,  that  to  unite  to- 
gether all  the  qualities,  without  the  least  exception,  that 
form  a  perfect  orator,  and  to  excel  equally  in  each  of  those 
qualities,  is  not  to  be  expected  from  the  limited  powers  of 
human  genius.  The  highest  degree  of  strength  is,  I  suspect, 
never  found  united  with  the  highest  degree  of  smoothness 


54  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


and  ornament  ;  equal  attentions  to  both  are  incompatible ; 
and  the  genius  that  carries  ornament  to  its  utmost  length  is 
not  of  such  a  kind  as  can  excel  as  much  in  vigour.  For 
there  plainly  lies  the  characteristical  difference  between  these 
two  celebrated  orators. 

"  It  is  a  disadvantage  to  Demosthenes  that,  besides  his 
conciseness,  which  sometimes  produces  obscurity,  the  lan- 
guage in  which  he  writes  is  less  familiar  to  most  of  us  than 
the  Latin,  and  that  we  are  less  acquainted  with  the  Greek 
antiquities  than  we  are  with  the  Roman.  We  read  Cicero 
with  more  ease,  and  of  course  with  more  pleasure.  Inde- 
pendent of  this  circumstance  too,  he  is  no  doubt,  in  himself, 
a  more  agreeable  writer  than  the  other.  But  notwithstand- 
ing this  advantage,  I  am  of  opinion  that,  were  the  state  in 
danger,  or  some  great  public  interest  at  stake,  which  drew 
the  serious  attention  of  men,  an  oration  in  the  spirit  and 
strain  of  Demosthenes  would  have  more  weight,  and  produce 
greater  effects,  than  one  in  the  Ciceronian  manner.  Were 
Demosthenes'  Philippics  spoken  in  a  British  assembly,  in  a 
similar  conjuncture  of  affairs,  they  would  convince  and  per- 
suade at  this  day.  The  rapid  style,  the  vehement  reasoning, 
the  disdain,  anger,  boldness,  freedom,  which  perpetually  ani- 
mate them,  would  render  their  success  infallible  over  any 
modern  assembly.  I  question  whether  the  same  can  be  said 
of  Cicero's  orations ;  whose  eloquence,  however  beautiful, 
and  however  well  suited  to  the  Roman  taste,  yet  borders 
oftener  on  declamation,  and  is  more  remote  from  the  man- 
ner in  which  we  now  expect  to  hear  real  business  and  causes 
of  importance  treated." 

Cicero's  orations  against  Verres  have  been  regarded  by 
many  writers  as  among  the  most  splendid  monuments  of  his 
genius.  Of  the  six  orations  against  Verres  which  have  come 
down  to  us,  Cicero  delivered  but  one.  Soon  after  the  trial 
was  begun,  Verres,  overwhelmed  by  the  evidence  of  guilt 
which  was  produced  against  him,  without  awaiting  the  de- 
cision of  the  court,  went  into  voluntary  exile.  If  he  had 
made  a  defence,  t*he  other  five  speeches  would  doubtless 
have  been  delivered*  These  orations  contain  many  beautiful 


ORATORY  IN  ROME.  55 


passages.  Perhaps  the  most  eloquent  was  that  in  which 
he  described  the  crucifixion  of  Publius  Gavius  Cosanus,  an 
innocent  Roman  citizen.  "  Its  conception  is  grand  ;  its 
arrangement,  beautiful ;  its  pathos,  deep  and  thrilling.  It 
is  not  surpassed  by  anything  of  the  kind  in  the  history  of 
ancient  eloquence." 

Before  introducing  this  passage,  the  author  will  give  a 
judicious  reflection  of  an  able  critic:  "  The  punishments  of 
death  and  torture  usually  reserved  for  slaves,  but  inflicted 
by  Verres  on  freemen  of  Rome,  formed  the  climax  of  his 
atrocities,  which  are  detailed  in  oratorical  progression.  After 
the  vivid  description  of  his  former  crimes,  one  scarcely  ex- 
pects that  new  terms  of  indignation  will  be  found ;  but  the 
expressions  of  the  orator  become  more  glowing,  in  propor- 
tion as  Verres  grows  more  daring  in  his  guilt.  The  sacred 
character  borne  over  all  the  world  by  a  Roman  citizen,  must 
be  fully  remembered,  in  order  to  read  with  due  feeling  the 
description  of  the  punishment  of  Gavius,  who  was  scourged, 
and  then  nailed  to  a  cross,  which,  by  a  refinement  in  cruelty, 
was  erected  on  the  shore,  and  facing  Italy,  that  he  might 
suffer  death  with  his  view  directed  towards  home  and  a 
land  of  liberty.  The  whole  is  poured  forth  in  a  torrent  of 
the  most  rapid  and  fervid  composition ;  and  had  it  actually 
flowed  from  the  lips  of  the  speaker,  we  can  not  doubt  the 
prodigious  effect  it  would  have  had  on  a  Roman  audience 
and  on  Roman  judges." 

Here  we  have  the  orator's  touching  description  of  the 
punishment  and  execution  of  Gavius  :  "  For  why  should  I 
speak,"  said  Cicero,  "  of  Publius  Gavius,  a  citizen  of  the 
municipality  of  Cosa,  O  judges  !  or  with  what  vigour  of 
language,  with  what  gravity  of  expression,  with  what  grief 
of  mind  shall  I  mention  him  ?  But,  indeed,  that  indignation 
fails  me.  I  must  take  more  care  than  usual  that  what  I  am 
going  to  say  be  worthy  of  my  subject — worthy  of  the  indig- 
nation which  I  feel.  For  the  charge  is  of  such  a  nature, 
that  when  I  was  first  informed  of  it  I  thought  I  should  not 
avail  myself  of  it.  For  although  I  knew  that  it  was  entirely 
true,  still  I  thought  that  it  would  not  appear  credible. 


56  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


Being  compelled  by  the  tears  of  all  the  Roman  citizens  who 
are  living  as  traders  in  Sicily,  being  influenced  by  the  testi- 
monies of  the  men  of  Valentia,  most  honourable  men,  and  by 
those  of  all  the  Rhegians,  and  of  many  Roman  knights  who 
happened  at  that  time  to  be  at  Messana,  I  produced  at  the 
previous  pleading  only  just  that  amount  of  evidence  which 
might  prevent  the  matter  from  appearing  doubtful  to  any 
one.  What  shall  I  do  now  ?  When  I  have  been  speaking  for 
so  many  hours  of  one  class  of  offences,  and  of  that  man's 
nefarious  cruelty, — when'  I  have  now  expended  nearly  all 
my  treasures  of  words  of  such  a  sort  as  are  worthy  of  that 
man's  wickedness  on  other  matters,  and  have  omitted  to 
take  precautions  to  keep  your  attention  on  the  stretch  by 
diversifying  my  accusations,  how  am  I  to  deal  with  an  affair 
of  the  importance  that  this  is  ?  There  is,  I  think,  but  one 
method,  but  one  line  open  to  me.  I  will  place  the  matter 
plainly  before  you,  which  is  of  itself  of  such  importance  that 
there  is  no  need  of  my  eloquence — and  eloquence,  indeed,  I 
have  none,  but  there  is  no  need  of  any  one's  eloquence  to- 
excite  your  feelings.  This  Gavius  whom  I  am  speaking  of, 
a  citizen  of  Cosa,  when  he  (among  that  vast  number  of 
Roman  citizens  who  had  been  treated  in  the  same  way)  had 
been  thrown  by  Verres  into  prison,  and  somehow  or  other 
had  escaped  secretly  out  of  the  stone  quarries,  and  had  come 
to  Messana,  being  now  almost  within  sight  of  Italy  and  of 
the  walls  of  Rhegium,  and  being  revived,  after  that  fear  of 
death  and  that  darkness,  by  the  light,  as  it  were,  of  liberty 
and  of  the  fragrance  of  the  laws,  began  to  talk  at  Messana,. 
and  to  complain  that  he,  a  Roman  citizen,  had  been  thrown 
into  prison.  He  said  that  he  was  now  going  straight  to 
Rome,  and  that  he  would  meet  Verres  on  his  arrival  there. 

"  The  miserable  man  was  not  aware  that  it  made  no  differ- 
ence whether  he  said  this  at  Messana,  or  before  the  man's 
face  in  his  own  praetorian  palace.  For,  as  I  have  shown  you 
before,  that  man  had  selected  this  city  as  the  assistant  in  his 
crimes,  the  receiver  of  his  thefts,  the  partner  in  all  his 
wickedness.  Accordingly,  Gavius  is  at  once  brought  before 
the  Mamertine  magistrates ;  and,  as  it  happened,  Verres 


ORATORY  IN  ROME.  57 


came  on  that  very  day  to  Messana.  The  matter  is  brought 
before  him.  He  is  told  that  the  man  was  a  Roman  citizen, 
who  was  complaining  that  at  Syracuse  he  had  been  confined 
in  the  stone-quarries,  and  who,  when  he  was  actually  em- 
barking on  board  ship,  and  uttering  violent  threats  against 
Verres,  had  been  brought  back  by  them,  and  reserved  in 
order  that  he  himself  might  decide  what  should  be  done 
with  him.  He  thanks  the  men  and  praises  their  good-will 
and  diligence  in  his  behalf.  He  himself,  inflamed  with  wicked- 
ness and  frenzy,  comes  into  the  forum.  His  eyes  glared  ; 
cruelty  was  visible  in  his  whole  appearance.  All  men  waited 
to  see  what  steps  he  was  going  to  take — what  he  was  going 
to  do ;  when  all  of  a  sudden  he  orders  the  man  to  be 
seized,  and  to  be  stripped  and  bound  in  the  middle  of 
the  forum,  and  the  rods  to  be  got  ready.  The  miserable 
man  cried  out  that  he  was  a  Roman  citizen,  a  citizen  also,  of 
the  municipal  town  of  Cosa, — that  he  had  served  with  Lucius 
Pretius,  a  most  illustrious  Roman  knight,  who  was  living 
as  a  trader  at  Panormus,  and  from  whom  Verres  might  know 
that  he  was  speaking  the  truth.  Then  Verres  says  that  he 
has  ascertained  that  he  had  been  sent  into  Sicily  by  the 
leaders  of  the  runaway  slaves,  in  order  to  act  as  a  spy ;  a 
matter  as  to  which  there  was  no  witness,  no  trace,  nor  even 
the  slightest  suspicion  in  the  mind  of  any  one.  Then  he 
orders  the  man  to  be  most  violently  scourged  on  all  sides. 
In  the  middle  of  the  forum  of  Messana  a  Roman  citizen,  O 
judges,  was  beaten  with  rods  ;  while  in  the  meantime  no 
groan  was  heard,  no  other  expression  was  heard  from  that 
wretched  man,  amid  all  his  pain,  and  between  the  sound  of 
the  blows,  except  these  words,  '  I  am  a  citizen  of  Rome.' 
He  fancied  that  by  this  one  statement  of  his  citizenship  he 
could  ward  off  all  blows,  and  remove  all  torture  from  his 
person.  He  not  only  did  not  succeed  in  averting  by  his 
entreaties  the  violence  of  the  rods,  but  as  he  kept  on 
repeating  his  entreaties  and  the  assertion  of  his  citizenship, 
a  cross — a  cross,  I  say — was  got  ready  for  that  miserable 
man,  who  had  never  witnessed  such  a  stretch  of  power. 
"  O  the  sweet  name  of  liberty  !  O  the  admirable  privileges 


58  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


of  our  citizenship  !  O  Porcian  law  !  O  Sempronian  laws  ! 
O  power  of  the  tribunes,  bitterly  regretted  by,  and  at  last 
restored  to,  the  Roman  people  !  Have  all  our  rights  fallen 
so  far,  that  in  a  province  of  the  Roman  people, — in  a  town 
of  our  confederate  allies, — a  Roman  citizen  should  be  bound 
in  the  forum,  and  beaten  with  rods  by  a  man  who  only  had 
the  fasces  and  the  axes  through  the  kindness  of  the  Roman 
people  ?  What  shall  I  say  ?  When  fire,  and  red-hot  plates 
and  other  instruments  of  torture  were  employed?  If  the 
bitter  entreaties  and  the  miserable  cries  of  that  man  had  no 
power  to  restrain  you,  were  you  not  moved  even  by  the  weep- 
ing and  loud  groans  of  the  Roman  citizens  who  were  present 
at  that  time  ?  Did  you  dare  to  drag  anyone  to  the  cross 
who  said  that  he  was  a  Roman  citizen  ? 

"  If  you,  O  Verres  !  being  taken  among  the  Persians  or  in 
the  remotest  parts  of  India,  were  being  led  to  execution, 
what  else  would  you  cry  out  but  that  you  were  a  Roman 
citizen  ?  And  if  that  name  of  your  city,  honoured  and  re- 
nowned as  it  is  among  all  men,  would  have  availed  you,  a 
stranger  among  strangers,  among  barbarians,  among  men 
placed  in  the  most  remote  and  distant  corners  of  the  earth, 
ought  not  he,  whoever  he  was,  whom  you  were  hurrying  to 
the  cross,  who  was  a  stranger  to  you,  to  have  been  able, 
when  he  said  that  he  was  a  Roman  citizen,  to  obtain  from 
you,  the  praetor,  if  not  an  escape,  at  least  a  respite  from 
death  by  his  mention  of  and  claims  to  citizenship  ? 

"  Men  of  no  importance,  born  in  an  obscure  rank,  go  to 
sea ;  they  go  to  places  which  they  have  never  seen  before  ; 
where  they  can  neither  be  known  to  the  men  among  whom 
they  have  arrived,  nor  always  find  people  to  vouch  for  them. 
But  still,  owing  to  this  confidence  in  the  mere  fact  of  their 
citizenship,  they  think  that  they  shall  be  safe,  not  only 
among  our  own  magistrates,  who  are  restrained  by  fear  of 
the  laws  and  of  public  opinion,  nor  among  our  fellow-citizens 
only,  who  are  united  with  them  by  community  of  language, 
of  rights,  and  of  many  other  things  ;  but  wherever  they  come 
they  think  that  this  will  be  a  protection  to  them.  Take  away 
this  protection  from  Roman  citizens,  establish  the  fact  that 


ORATORY  IN  ROME.  59 


there  is  no  assistance  to  be  found  in  the  words  '  I  am  a 
Roman  citizen  ' ;  that  a  praetor,  or  any  other  officer,  may 
with  impunity  order  any  punishment  he  pleases  to  be  in- 
flicted on  a  man  who  says  that  he  is  a  Roman  citizen,  though 
no  one  knows  that  it  is  not  true  ;  and  at  one  blow,  by  admit- 
ting that  defence,  you  cut  off  from  the  Roman  citizens  all 
the  provinces,  and  the  kingdoms,  all  free  cities,  and  indeed 
the  whole  world,  which  has  hitherto  been  open  most  es- 
pecially to  our  countrymen. 

"  But  why  need  I  say  more  about  Gavius  ?  as  if  you  were 
hostile  to  Gavius,  and  not  rather  an  enemy  to  the  name  and 
class  of  citizens,  and  to  all  their  rights.  You  were  not,  I  say, 
an  enemy  to  the  individual,  but  to  the  common  cause  of 
liberty.  For  what  was  our  object  in  ordering  the  Mamer- 
tines,  when,  according  to  their  regular  custom  and  usage, 
they  had  erected  the  cross  behind  the  city  in  the  Pompeian 
road,  to  place  it  where  it  looked  towards  the  strait ;  and  in 
adding,  what  you  can  by  no  means  deny,  what  you  said 
openly  in  the  hearing  of  everyone,  that  you  chose  that  place 
in  order  that  the  man  who  said  that  he  was  a  Roman  citizen, 
might  be  able  from  his  cross  to  behold  Italy  and  to  look 
towards  his  own  home  ?  And  accordingly,  O  judges,  that 
cross,  for  the  first  time  since  the  foundation  of  Messana,  was 
erected  in  that  place.  A  spot  commanding  a  view  of  Italy 
was  picked  out  by  that  man,  for  the  express  purpose  that  the 
wretched  man  who  was  dying  in  agony  and  torture  might  see 
that  the  rights  of  liberty  and  of  slavery  were  only  separated 
by  a  very  narrow  strait,  and  that  Italy  might  behold  her  son 
murdered  by  the  most  miserable  and  most  painful  punish- 
ment appropriate  to  slaves  alone. 

"  It  is  a  crime  to  bind  a  Roman  citizen ;  to  scourge  him  is 
a  wickedness  ;  to  put  him  to  death  is  almost  parricide.  What 
shall  I  say  of  crucifying  him  ?  So  guilty  an  action  cannot 
by  any  possibility  be  adequately  expressed  by  any  name  bad 
enough  for  it.  Yet  with  all  this  that  man  was  not  content. 
*  Let  him  behold  his  country,'  said  he  ;  *  let  him  die  within 
sight  of  laws  and  liberty.'  It  was  not  Gavius,  it  was  not  one 
individual,  I  know  not  whom, — it  was  not  one  Roman  citi- 


60  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


zen, — it  was  the  common  cause  of  freedom  and  citizenship 
that  you  exposed  to  that  torture  and  nailed  on  that  cross. 
But  now  consider  the  audacity  of  the  man.  Do  not  you 
think  that  he  was  indignant  that  he  could  not  erect  that 
cross  for  Roman  citizens  in  the  forum,  in  the  comitium,  in 
the  very  rostra?  For  the  place  in  his  province  which  was 
the  most  like  those  places  in  celebrity,  and  the  nearest  to 
them  in  point  of  distance,  he  did  select.  He  chose  that 
monument  of  his  wickedness  and  audacity  to  be  in  the  sight 
of  Italy,  in  the  very  vestibule  of  Sicily,  within  sight  of  all 
passers-by  as  they  sailed  to  and  fro." 

Cicero,  however,  acquired  his  greatest  renown  as  a  states- 
man and  an  orator  by  detecting  and  crushing  the  famous 
conspiracy  of  Catiline.  His  orations  against  Catiline  are  the 
greatest  which  he  delivered.  They  are  among  the  best 
models  of  style  that  adorn  Roman  literature. 

Sallust  and  other  historians  have  given  a  history  of  the 
Catilinarian  conspiracy,  which  was  crushed  B.C.  63,  and  it  is 
doubtless  familiar  to  the  reader.  It  is  therefore  unnecessary 
to  give  a  full  account  of  this  plot,  which  had  for  objects  the 
burning  of  Rome  and  the  ruin  of  the  republic. 

"  It  was  to  have  been  carried  into  effect  in  this  manner :  Cati- 
line was  to  leave  Rome  and  join  his  forces,  assembled  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  Italy,  while  his  accomplices  in  the  city  were  to 
burn  the  Capitol,  and  massacre  the  senators  and  citizens. 
Cicero,  by  his  vigilance,  having  discovered  their  infernal 
design,  summoned  the  senate  to  meet  in  the  temple  of 
Jupiter  (this  temple  was  only  used  for  this  purpose  on 
occasions  of  great  danger),  in  the  Capitol,  that  he  might  lay 
before  it  the  whole  circumstance  of  the  deep-laid  plot.  The 
presence  of  Catiline,  who  had  the  boldness  to  appear  in  the 
midst  of  the  assembly,  so  inflamed  the  orator  that  he  imme- 
diately rose  and  broke  out  in  that  severe,  overwhelming 
invective  which  produced  such  an  electric  effect  when  de- 
livered, and  which  cannot,  at  this  day,  be  read  without 
emotion.  It  was  in  a  thundering  tone  of  exasperated  elo- 
quence that  Cicero  exclaimed,  as  he  fixed  his  eye  upon  the 
conspirator : 


OKA  TOR  Y  7Ar  ROME.  6 1 


"  *  When,  O  Catiline,  do  you  mean  to  cease  abusing  our 
patience?  How  long  is  that  madness  of  yours  still  to  mock 
us  ?  When  is  there  to  be  an  end  of  that  unbridled  audacity  of 
yours,  swaggering  about  as  it  does  now  ?  Do  not  the  mighty 
guards  placed  on  the  Palatine  Hill — do  not  the  watches 
posted  throughout  the  city — does  not  the  alarm  of  the  peo- 
ple, and  the  union  of  all  good  men — does  not  the  precau- 
tion taken  of  assembling  the  senate  in  this  most  defensible 
place — do  not  the  looks  and  countenances  of  this  venerable 
body  here  present,  have  any  effect  upon  you  ?  Do  you 
not  feel  that  your  plans  are  detected  ?  Do  you  not 
see  that  your  conspiracy  is  already  arrested  and  rendered 
powerless  by  the  knowledge  which  everyone  here  possesses 
of  it  ?  What  is  there  that  you  did  last  night,  what  the  night 
before — where  is  it  that  you  were — who  was  there  that  you 
summoned  to  meet  you — what  design  was  there  which  was 
adopted  by  you  with  which  you  think  that  any  one  of  us  is 
unacquainted  ? 

"  *  Shame  on  the  age  and  on  its  principles  !  The  senate  is 
aware  of  these  things  ;  the  consul  sees  them  ;  and  yet  this 
man  lives.  Lives !  aye,  he  comes  even  into  the  senate.  He 
takes  part  in  the  public  deliberations;  he  is  watching  and 
marking  down  and  checking  off  for  slaughter  every  indi- 
vidual among  us.  And  we,  gallant  men  that  we  are,  think 
that  we  are  doing  our  duty  to  the  republic  if  we  keep  out  of 
the  way  of  his  frenzied  attacks. 

"  '  You  ought,  O  Catiline,  long  ago  to  have  been  led  to 
execution  by  command  of  the  consul.  That  destruction 
which  you  have  been  long  plotting  against  us  ought  to  have 
already  fallen  on  your  own  head. 

"  *  I  wish,  O  conscript  fathers,  to  be  merciful ;  I  wish  not 
to  appear  negligent  amid  such  danger  to  the  state ;  but  I  do 
now  accuse  myself  of  remissness  and  culpable  inactivity.  A 
camp  is  pitched  in  Italy,  at  the  entrance  of  Etruria,  in  hos- 
tility to  the  republic  ;  the  number  of  the  enemy  increases 
every  day  ;  and  yet  the  general  of  that  camp,  the  leader  of 
those  enemies  we  see  within  the  walls — aye,  and  even  in  the 
senate — planning  every  day  some  internal  injury  to  the  re- 


62  HISTOR  Y  OF  OR  A  TOR  Y. 


public.  If,  O  Catiline,  I  should  now  order  you  to  be 
arrested,  to  be  put  to  death,  I  should,  I  suppose,  have  to 
fear  lest  all  good  men  should  say  that  I  had  acted  tardily, 
rather  than  that  any  one  should  affirm  that  I  acted  cruelly. 
But  yet  this,  which  ought  to  have  been  done  long  since,  I 
have  good  reason  for  not  doing  as  yet ;  I  will  put  you  to 
death,  then,  when  there  shall  be  not  one  person  possible  to 
be  found  so  wicked,  so  abandoned,  so  like  yourself,  as  not 
to  allow  that  it  has  been  rightly  done.  As  long  as  one  per- 
son exists  who  can  dare  to  defend  you,  you  shall  live ;  but 
you  shall  live  as  you  do  now,  surrounded  by  my  many  and 
trusty  guards  so  that  you  shall  not  be  able  to  stir  one  finger 
against  the  republic  :  many  eyes  and  ears  shall  still  observe 
and  watch  you,  as  they  have  hitherto  done,  though  you  shall 
not  perceive  them. 

"  '  As,  then,  this  is  the  case,  O  Catiline,  continue  as  you 
have  begun.  Leave  the  city  at  least :  the  gates  are  open  ; 
depart.  That  Manlian  camp  of  yours  has  been  waiting  too 
long  for  you  as  its  general.  And  lead  forth  with  you  all 
your  friends,  or  at  least  as  many  as  you  can  ;  purge  the  city 
of  your  presence  ;  you  will  deliver  me  from  a  great  fear, 
when  there  is  a  wall  between  me  and  you.  Among  us  you 
can  dwell  no  longer.  I  will  not  bear  it,  I  will  not  permit  it, 
I  will  not  tolerate  it. 

"  *  For  what  is  there,  O  Catiline,  that  can  now  afford  you 
any  pleasure  in  this  city  ?  for  there  is  no  one  in  it,  except 
that  band  of  profligate  conspirators  of  yours,  who  does  not 
fear  you — no  one  who  does  not  hate  you.  What  brand  of 
domestic  baseness  is  not  stamped  upon  your  life  ?  What 
disgraceful  circumstance  is  wanting  to  your  infamy  in 
your  private  affairs  ?  From  what  licentiousness  have  your 
eyes,  from  what  atrocity  have  your  hands,  from  what  iniquity 
has  your  whole  body  ever  abstained  ?  Is  there  one  youth 
when  you  have  once  entangled  him  in  the  temptations  of 
your  corruption,  to  whom  you  have  not  held  out  a  sword 
for  audacious  crime,  or  a  torch  for  licentious  wickedness  ? 

" '  Begone  from  the  city,  O  Catiline,  deliver  the  republic 
from  fear;  depart  into  banishment,  if  that  is  the  word  you 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  ROME.  63 


are  waiting  for.  What  now,  O  Catiline  ?  Do  you  not  per- 
ceive, do  you  not  see  the  silence  of  these  men;  they  per- 
mit it,  they  say  nothing ;  why  wait  you  for  the  authority  of 
their  words  when  you  see  their  wishes  in  their  silence? 

"  *  Wherefore,  O  conscript  fathers,  let  the  worthless  begone, 
— let  them  separate  themselves  from  the  good, — let  them 
collect  in  one  place, — let  them,  as  I  have  often  said  before, 
be  separated  from  us  by  a  wall ;  let  them  cease  to  plot 
against  the  consul  in  his  own  house, — to  surround  the  tri- 
bunal of  the  city  praetor, — to  besiege  the  senate  house  with 
swords, — to  prepare  brands  and  torches  to  burn  the  city ; 
let  it,  in  short,  be  written  on  the  brow  of  every  citizen,  what 
are  his  sentiments  about  the  republic.  I  promise  you  this, 
O  conscript  fathers,  that  there  shall  be  so  much  diligence  in 
us  the  consuls,  so  much  authority  in  you,  so  much  virtue 
in  the  Roman  knights,  so  much  unanimity  in  all  good  men, 
that  you  shall  see  everything  made  plain  and  manifest  by  the 
departure  of  Catiline, — everything  checked  and  punished.' 

"  Catiline  did  not  venture  to  make  any  reply  to  this 
speech,  but  he  begged  the  senate  not  to  be  too  hasty  in  be- 
lieving everything  which  was  said  to  his  prejudice  by  one 
who  had  always  been  his  enemy,  as  Cicero  had  ;  and  alleged 
his  high  birth,  and  the  stake  which  he  had  in  the  prosperity 
of  the  commonwealth,  as  arguments  to  make  it  appear  im- 
probable that  he  should  seek  to  injure  it ;  and  called  Cicero 
a  stranger,  and  a  new  inhabitant  of  Rome.  But  the  senate 
interrupted  him  with  a  general  outcry,  calling  him  traitor 
and  parricide.  Upon  which,  being  rendered  furious  and 
desperate,  he  declared  aloud  what  he  had  before  said  to 
Cato,  that  since  he  was  circumvented  and  driven  headlong 
by  his  enemies,  he  would  quench  the  flame  which  his  enemies 
were  kindling  around  him  in  the  common  ruin.  And  so  he 
rushed  out  of  the  temple. 

"  In  point  of  effect,  this  oration  must  have  been  perfectly 
electric.  The  disclosure  to  the  criminal  himself  of  his  most 
secret  purposes — their  flagitious  nature,  threatening  the  life 
of  every  one  present — the  whole  course  of  his  villainies  and 
treasons,  blazoned  forth  with  the  fire  of  increased  eloquence 


64  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


— and  the  adjuration  to  him,  by  flying  from  Rome,  to  free 
his  country  from  such  a  pestilence,  were  all  wonderfully  cal- 
culated to  excite  astonishment,  admiration,  and  horror." 

This  speech  produced  a  powerful  effect.  It  was  the 
means  of  driving  Catiline  from  Rome,  and  of  saving  the 
commonwealth  from  utter  ruin.  After  the  conspirator  had 
fled  from  the  city,  Cicero  called  the  people  together  into  the 
forum,  and  delivered  his  second  Catilinarian  oration,  which 
commences  as  follows : 

"  At  length,  O  Romans,  we  have  dismissed  from  the  city, 
or  driven  out,  or,  when  he  was  departing  of  his  own  accord, 
we  have  pursued  with  words,  Lucius  Catiline,  mad  with 
audacity,  breathing  wickedness,  impiously  planning  mischief 
to  his  country,  threatening  fire  and  sword  to  you  and  to  this 
city.  He  is  gone,  he  has  departed,  he  has  disappeared,  he 
has  rushed  out.  No  injury  will  now  be  prepared  against 
these  walls  within  the  walls  themselves  by  that  monster  and 
prodigy  of  wickedness.  And  we  have,  without  controversy, 
defeated  him,  the  sole  general  of  this  domestic  war.  For 
now  that  dagger  will  no  longer  hover  about  our  sides ;  we 
shall  not  be  afraid  in  the  campus,  in  the  forum,  in  the 
senate-house, — ay,  and  within  our  own  private  walls.  He 
was  moved  from  his  place  when  he  was  driven  from  the  city. 
Now  we  shall  openly  carry  on  a  regular  war  with  an  enemy 
without  hindrance.  Beyond  all  question  we  ruin  the  man  ; 
we  have  defeated  him  splendidly  when  we  have  driven  him 
from  secret  treachery  into  open  warfare.  But  that  he  has 
not  taken  with  him  his  sword  red  with  blood  as  he  intended, 
— that  he  has  left  us  alive, — that  we  wrested  the  weapon  from 
his  hands, — that  he  has  left  the  citizens  safe  and  the  city 
standing,  what  great  and  overwhelming  grief  must  you  think 
that  this  is  to  him  !  Now  he  lies  prostrate,  O  Romans,  and 
feels  himself  stricken  down  and  abject,  and  often  casts  back 
his  eyes  towards  this  city,  which  he  mourns  over  as  snatched 
from  his  jaws,  but  which  seems  to  me  to  rejoice  at  having 
vomited  forth  such  a  pest,  and  cast  it  out  of  doors." 

The  conspiracy  was  suppressed  finally  by  the  execution 
of  five  of  the  principal  conspirators,  and  by  the  fall  of  Cati- 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  ROME.  65 


line  himself  in  battle.  Cicero  for  his  services  on  this  occa- 
sion received  the  thanks  of  the  senate,  and  was  universally 
hailed  as  the  deliverer  and  father  of  his  country. 

All  of  the  orations  of  Cicero  deserve  careful  reading  and 
study  ;  especially  is  this  true  of  the  speech  for  Archias  and 
that  for  Milo. 

The  orations  against  Marc  Antony  were  the  last  which 
Cicero  delivered.  Cicero  looked  upon  Antony  as  the  great- 
est enemy  to  the  liberties  of  the  Roman  people.  From 
their  resemblance  to  speeches  of  Demosthenes  against  Philip, 
these  orations  received  the  name  of  Philippics. 

The  peroration  of  the  second  Philippic  contains  a  bold 
•exclamation  against  Antony  :  "  Consider,  I  beg  you,  Marcus 
Antoninus,  do  some  time  or  other  consider  the  republic ; 
think  of  the  family  of  which  you  are  born,  not  of  the  men 
with  whom  you  are  living.  Be  reconciled  to  the  republic. 
However,  do  you  decide  on  your  conduct.  As  to  mine,  I 
myself  will  declare  what  that  shall  be.  I  defended  the  re- 
public as  a  young  man,  I  will  not  abandon  it  now  that  I  am 
old.  I  scorned  the  sword  of  Catiline,  I  will  not  quail  before 
yours.  No,  I  will  rather  cheerfully  expose  my  own  person  if 
the  liberty  of  the  city  can  be  restored  by  my  death. 

"  May  the  indignation  of  the  Roman  people  at  last  bring 
forth  what  it  has  been  so  long  labouring  with.  In  truth,  if 
twenty  years  ago  in  this  very  temple  I  asserted  that  death 
would  not  come  prematurely  upon  a  man  of  consular  rank, 
with  how  much  more  truth  must  I  now  say  the  same  of  an 
old  man  ?  To  me,  indeed,  O  conscript  fathers,  death  is 
even  now  desirable,  after  all  the  honours  which  I  have  gained, 
and  the  deeds  which  I  have  done.  I  only  pray  for  these 
two  things  :  one,  that  dying  I  may  leave  the  Roman  people 
free.  No  greater  boon  than  this  can  be  granted  me  by  the 
immortal  gods.  The  other,  that  every  one  may  meet  with  a 
fate  suitable  to  his  deserts  and  conduct  toward  the  republic." 

The  last  extract  which  the  author  will  give,  is  the  perora- 
tion of  the  sixth  Philippic,  addressed  to  the  people,  in  which 
the  orator  endeavours  to  show  that  Roman  citizens  cannot 
be  reduced  to  slavery  : 


66  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


"  It  is  impossible  for  the  Roman  people  to  be  slaves ;  that 
people  whom  the  immortal  gods  have  ordained  should  rule 
over  all  nations.  Matters  are  now  come  to  a  crisis.  We  are 
fighting  for  our  freedom.  Either  you  must  conquer,  O 
Romans,  which  indeed  you  will  do  if  you  continue  to  act 
witfy  such  piety  and  such  unanimity,  or  you  must  do  any- 
thing rather  than  become  slaves.  Other  nations  can  endure 
slavery.  Liberty  is  the  inalienable  possession  of  the  Roman 
people." 

But  the  fetters  of  the  Roman  people  had  been  forged,  and 
their  liberty  was  at  an  end.  They  did  not  heed  the  notes 
of  warning  which  he  sounded.  He  was  included  in  the  pro- 
scription of  Antony,  and  was  assassinated  in  the  sixty-fourth 
year  of  his  age,  B.C.  43. 

Quintilian  has  said  of  Cicero  that  his  name  "  is  only 
another  for  eloquence  itself,  and  that  he  united  in  his  man- 
ner the  vehemence  of  Demosthenes,  the  copiousness  of 
Plato,  and  the  sweetness  of  Isocrates." 

No  adequate  conception  can  now  be  formed  of  Cicero's 
impassioned  eloquence.  The  most  glowing  description  can 
but  imperfectly  paint  the  charms  of  his  oratory.  Its  great- 
est force  lay  in  the  living  voice — the  graceful  gesture — the 
expressive  countenance — the  beaming  eye — the  pathos  and 
power  of  tone  which  thrill  the  hearer ; — these  were  some  of 
the  characteristics  of  that  oratory  which  so  often  thrilled  the 
heart  of  a  Roman  audience. 

Forensic  oratory  may  be  said  to  have  passed  away,  at 
Rome,  with  the  republic.  Eloquence  cannot  exist  under 
a  despotic  form  of  government.  It  can  only  be  found  in 
countries  where  free  institutions  flourish.  Crematius  Cardus, 
in  the  reign  of  Tiberius,  thought  otherwise,  and  on  one  oc- 
casion, he  alluded  in  terms  of  praise  to  the  patriots  of  the 
republic.  He  eulogised  Brutus,  and  designated  Cassius  as 
the  last  of  the  Romans,  but  his  temerity  cost  him  his  life. 

In  the  dialogue  on  the  "  Causes  of  the  Corruption  of  Elo- 
quence," written,  it  is  thought,  by  Tacitus  a  little  more  than 
a  century  after  the  death  of  Cicero,  the  author  feelingly  la- 
ments that  oratory  was  extinct.  He  says  :  "  Often  have  you 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  ROME.  6/ 


asked  me,  Justus  Fabius,  why,  when  former  ages  were  so  dis- 
tinguished by  the  genius  and  renown  of  orators,  our  own  age, 
destitute  and  bereft  of  glory,  scarce  retains  the  very  name. 
For  we  style  none  such  now  except  the  ancients ;  but  the 
speakers  of  the  present  day  are  called  pleaders,  and  advo- 
cates, and  barristers,  and  anything  rather  than  orators." 

Judging  from  what  Juvenal  says  of  it,  the  bar  in  his  time, 
at  Rome,  was  by  no  means  in  a  prosperous  and  satisfactory 
state : 

"  Say  now  what  honours  advocates  attend, 
Whose  shelves  beneath  a  load  of  volumes  bend  ; 
The  voice  stentorian  in  the  courts  we  hear,  • 

But  chiefly  when  some  creditor  is  near  : 
A  show  of  business  eager  to  display, 
Their  lungs  like  panting  bellows  work  away. 
Alas  !  a  hundred  lawyers  scarce  can  gain, 
What  one  successful  jockey  will  obtain. — 
The  court  has  met :  with  pale  and  careworn  face 
You  rise  to  plead  some  helpless  client's  case, 
And  crack  your  voice  ;  for  what  ?  when  all  is  o'er, 
To  see  a  bunch  of  laurel  on  your  door. 
This  is  the  meed  of  eloquence  ;  to  dine 
On  dried-up  hams,  and  cabbage,  and  sour  wine  : 
If  by  good  luck  four  briefs  you  chance  to  hold, 
And  your  eye  glistens  at  the  sight  of  gold  ; 
Think  not  to  pocket  all  the  hard-won  fee, 
For  the  attorney  claims  his  share  with  thee. 
Large  sums  ^Emilius  can  command,  't  is  true, 
Although  a  far  worse  advocate  than  you  ; 
But  then  his  steed  of  bronze  and  brazen  car 
The  rich  ^Emilius  to  the  world  declare  ; 
While  lance  in  hand  he  rides  a  sculptur'd  knight, 
And  seems  a  warrior  charging  in  the  fight." 

Pliny  the  younger  also  speaks  of  the  changed  condition  of 
the  forum  in  his  day,  and  of  the  unprofessional  and  unworthy 
arts  which  were  resorted  to  to  gain  a  reputation  and  attract 
clients.  In  one  of  his  epistles  to  a  friend  he  says  :  "  You  are 
right  in  your  conjecture.  I  am  tired  to  death  of  causes  in 


68  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


the  centumviral  courts,  which  give  me  practice  rather  than 
pleasure,  for  they  are  for  the  most  part  trifling  and  trumpery. 
A  case  seldom  occurs  distinguished  either  by  the  rank  of  the 
parties,  or  the  importance  of  the  matter  in  dispute.  Besides, 
there  are  very  few  counsel  with  whom  it  is  at  all  agreeable  to 
be  engaged.  The  rest  are  generally  obscure  young  men 
with  plenty  of  effrontery,  who  go  there  to  make  declamatory 
speeches  with  such  rashness  and  want  of  modesty,  that  my 
friend  Attilius  seems  to  have  said,  with  great  truth,  that  boys 
at  the  bar  begin  with  causes  in  those  courts,  just  as  they  did 
with  Homer  at  school." 

Pliny  also  mentions,  with  disapproval,  the  practice  of 
certain  advocates  who  hired  claqueurs  to  attend  upon  them 
and  applaud  their  speeches  in  court.  He  says:  "If  you 
chance  to  pass  through  the  hall,  and  wish  to  know  how  each 
counsel  acquits  himself,  you  have  no  occasion  to  listen  to 
what  he  says.  You  may  rest  assured  that  he  is  the  worst 
speaker  who  has  the  loudest  applause."  Pliny  says  that 
Sergius  Licinius  first  introduced  this  practice  :  "  Once,  when 
Domitius  Afer  was  pleading  a  cause  before  the  centumvirs, 
he  suddenly  heard,  in  the  adjoining  court,  a  loud  and  un- 
usual shouting,  and  for  a  few  moments  he  stopped.  When 
the  noise  ceased  he  went  on,  but  soon  there  was  another 
shout  of  applause  and  he  again  paused.  After  he  had  re- 
sumed his  argument,  he  was  again  interrupted,  and  he  then 
asked  who  was  speaking  in  the  other  court.  He  was  told 
that  it  was  Licinius  ;  upon  which  he  said,  addressing  the 
judges,  '  This  is  a  death-blow  to  the  profession.'  " 

Ulpian  in  his  treatise  Ad  Edictum  tells  us  that  an  express 
law  was  enacted  to  prevent  the  fair  sex  from  pleading  in  the 
courts  of  law,  "  that  they  might  not  intermeddle  in  such 
matters,  contrary  to  the  modesty  befitting  their  sex,  nor  en- 
gage in  employments  proper  to  men."  The  cause  of  this 
edict  being  passed,  is  said  to  have  been  the  conduct  of  a 
virago  named  Carfania,  a  most  troublesome  and  ill-condi- 
tioned lady,  who  gave  the  magistrates  a  great  deal  of  trouble 
by  her  importunity  in  court.  An  exception  was  made,  how- 
ever, in  favour  of  the  daughters  of  advocates  who  could  not 


ORATORY  IN  ROME. 


69 


attend  in  person  on  account  of  sickness  or  infirmity,  and  who 
could  not  get  anyone  else  to  plead  for  them." 

In  one  of  the  books  written  during  the  middle  ages  the 
following  advice  is  given  to  the  forensic  orator.  He  was 
told  that,  in  order  that  his  discourse  "  might  have  dignity 
and  beauty,  there  are  three  things  necessary  :  first,  it  must 
please ;  secondly,  it  must  convince ;  thirdly,  it  must  per- 
suade. For  the  first  effect  the  pleader  must  speak  grace- 
fully ;  for  the  second  plainly  ;  for  the  third  with  great  ardour 
and  fervency." 


O 


CHAPTER  III. 

MODERN   ORATORY. 

RATORY  is  immortal.  In  some  form  or  other 
oratory  will  live,  and  have  its  influence  upon  man- 
kind, as  in  past  ages,  and  in  different  countries,  as 
long  as  the  human  heart  is  inhabited  by  the  passions  which 
are  inherent  to  our  nature  &nd  which  have  taken  up  their 
residence  there,  and  as  long  as  it  is  necessary  to  discuss  im- 
portant questions  in  the  pulpit,  the  senate,  and  the  bar. 

i/ 

"  Not  until  human  nature  is  other  than  it  is,  will  the  func- 
tion of  the  living  voice — the  greatest  force  on  earth  among 
men — cease,"  said  Henry  Ward  Beecher.  The  same  magnifi- 
cent orator  said,  also  :  "  /  advocate,  therefore,  in  its  full 
extent,  and  for  every  reason  of  humanity,  of  patriotism,  and 
of  religion,  a  more  thorough  culture  of  oratory  ;  and  I  define 
oratory  to  be  the  art  of  influencing  conduct  with  the  truth  set 
home  by  all  the  resources  of  the  living  man" 
t 

The  study  of  oratory  has  of  late  years  been  too  much 
neglected  by  public  speakers — especially  by  lawyers.  They 
do  hot  give  enough  attention  to  general  literature.  By 
giving  a  portion  of  their  time  to  the  study  of  polite  litera- 
ture, aside  from  the  benefits  derived  from  an  accumulation 
of  valuable  facts  and  felicitous  phrases,  they  would  return 
to  their  more  rugged  pursuits  with  greater  alacrity  and  with 
renewed  strength. 

The  mind  is  invigorated,  strengthened,  and  improved  by 
turning  it  into  other  channels  occasionally. 

70 


MODERN  ORATORY.  /I 


"  A  mere  lawyer  is  a  mere  jackass,  and  has  never  the 
power  to  unload  himself ;  whereas  I  consider  the  advocate — 
the  thoroughly  accomplished  advocate — the  highest  style  of 
man.  He  is  always  ready  to  learn,  and  always  ready  to 
teach.  Hortensius  was  a  lawyer,  Cicero  an  orator.  The 
one  is  forgotten,  the  other  is  immortal,"  said  one  of  the 
greatest  of  American  lawyers — David  Paul  Brown. 

Good  speaking,  in  a  republican  form  of  government  like 
our  own,  is  usually  a  direct  road  to  riches  and  honour,  and 
it  should  be  cultivated  assiduously  by  those  who  are  en- 
dowed by  nature  with  the  requisite  natural  ability. 

The  oratory  of  the  American  bar  is  not  as  good  as  it 
should  be.  Too  many  of  our  speakers  imagine  they  are 
heaven-born  geniuses,  and  that  it  is  useless  for  them  to 
study  the  art  of  oratory.  The  success  of  many  of  our  foren- 
sic orators  is  owing  in  a  great  measure  to  the  exertions  of 
strong  parts  and  masculine  understandings,  breaking  through 
and  surmounting  the  incumbrances  of  a  bad  style  and  an 
ungraceful  elocution.  We  are  often  content  to  fatigue  our 
attention  in  listening  to  these  men,  because  we  know  that 
their  matter  and  their  acuteness  in  the  application  of  it 
will,  in  the  end,  make  us  compensation.  The  pleasure  of 
hearing  them,  however,  is  greatly  diminished  by  the  incor- 
rectness of  their  language,  the  want  of  conclusiveness  of 
their  arguments,  and  the  dryness  of  their  diction. 

There  are,  however,  bright  stars  in  our  legal  hemisphere 
to  whom  this  criticism  does  not  apply.  But  their  eloquence 
derives  that  dazzling  lustre  with  which  it  is  irradiated,  from 
the  acquirements  of  logical  and  rhetorical  support  and 
ornament. 

Neither  Greece  nor  Rome,  in  their  palmiest  days,  pre- 
sented a  fairer  field  than  that  which  now  invites  the  culture 
of  the  enlightened  citizens  of  America.  We  enjoy  as  much 
liberty  as  is  consistent  with  the  nature  of  man.  We  possess 
as  a  nation  all  the  advantages  which  climate,  soil,  and  situ- 
ation can  bestow,  and  nothing  but  merit  is  here  required  as 
a  qualification  for  the  highest  offices  of  state.  Eloquence 
never  had  more  ample  scope. 


72  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


We  must  not  rest  satisfied  with  admiring  the  celebrated 
orators  of  Greece  and  Rome.  Oratory,  that  most  sublime 
of  all  arts,  must  not  be  neglected,  while  every  other  useful 
and  ornamental  art  speeds  swiftly  toward  perfection. 

American  eloquence  should  be  raised  above  all  Greek, 
above  all  Roman  fame.  To  our  young  readers,  especially, 
we  would  repeat  the  words  of  Adams : 

"  Is  it  your  intention  to  devote  the  labours  of  your  ma- 
turity to  the  cause  of  justice  ;  to  defend  the  persons,  the 
property,  and  the  fame  of  your  fellow-citizens  from  the  open 
assaults  of  violence,  and  the  secret  encroachments  of  fraud  ? 
Fill  the  fountains  of  your  eloquence  from  inexhaustible 
sources,  that  their  streams,  when  they  shall  begin  to  flow, 
may  themselves  prove  inexhaustible. 

"  Is  there  among  you  a  youth  whose  bosom  burns  with 
the  fires  of  honourable  ambition  ;  who  aspires  to  immortalise 
his  name  by  the  extent  and. importance  of  his  services  to  his 
country ;  whose  visions  of  futurity  glow  with  the  hope  of 
presiding  in  her  councils,  of  directing  her  affairs,  of  appear- 
ing to  future  ages,  on  the  rolls  of  fame,  as  her  ornament  and 
pride  ?  Let  him  catch  from  the  relics  of  ancient  oratory 
those  unresisted  powers  which  mould  the  mind  of  a  man  to 
the  will  of  the  speaker,  and  yield  the  guidance  of  a  nation 
to  the  dominion  of  the  voice. 

"  Under  governments  purely  republican,  where  every 
citizen  has  a  deep  interest  in  the  affairs  of  the  nation,  and,  in 
some  form  of  public  assembly  or  other,  has  the  means  and 
opportunity  of  delivering  his  opinions,  and  of  communicating 
his  sentiments  by  speech, — where  government  itself  has  no 
arms  but  those  of  persuasion, — where  prejudice  has  not  ac- 
quired an  uncontrolled  ascendancy,  and  faction  is  yet  confined 
within  the  barriers  of  peace,  the  voice  of  eloquence  will  not 
be  heard  in  vain. 

"  March  then  with  firm,  with  steady,  with  undeviating 
step  to  the  prize  of  your  high  calling.  Gather  fragrance 
from  the  whole  paradise  of  science,  and  learn  to  distil  from 
your  lips  all  the  honeys  of  persuasion.  Consecrate,  above 
all,  the  faculties  of  your  life  to  the  cause  of  truth,  of  freedom, 


MODERN  ORATORY.  73 


and  of  humanity.  So  shall  your  country  ever  gladden  at 
the  sound  of  your  voice,  and  every  talent,  added  to  your 
accomplishments,  become  another  blessing  to  mankind." 

The  advance  of  civilisation  is  great,  and  the  engines  of 
force  are  mighty,  but  man  is  greater  than  that  which  he  pro- 
duces. Unspeakably  great  and  useful  is  the  Press,  and  the 
voice  is  its  most  important  auxiliary.  There  is  work  for 
both.  It  has  been  said  that  our  greatest  orators  have  not 
been  trained.  This  is  not  true.  On  the  contrary,  the  most 
successful  forensic  and  political  orators  of  ancient  and  mod- 
ern times  have  been  diligent  students  of  oratory  from  the 
time  of  Demosthenes  to  the  present,  and  including  that 
great  forensic  orator,  Hon.  Joseph  H.  Choate,  the  most 
successful  advocate  of  the  present  day. 

Henry  Clay,  by  his  own  exertions,  chiefly,  became  an 
accomplished  and  cultured  orator,  and  it  is  said  that  Daniel 
Webster  was  studious  of  everything  he  did,  even  to  the 
selection  of  the  buttons  for  his  coat. 

He  who  does  not  believe  that  industry  is  necessary  to  the 
attainment  of  eloquence,  should  read  the  following  extract 
from  the  works  of  an  able  writer  upon  the  subject : 

"  The  history  of  the  world  is  full  of  testimony  to  prove 
how  much  depends  upon  industry.  Not  an  eminent  orator 
has  lived  but  is  an  example  of  it.  Yet,  in  contradiction  to 
all  this,  the  almost  universal  feeling  appears  to  be,  that 
industry  can  effect  nothing,  that  eminence  is  the  result  of 
accident,  and  that  every  one  must  be  content  to  remain  just 
what  he  may  happen  to  be.  Thus,  multitudes,  who  come 
forward  as  teachers  and  guides,  suffer  themselves  to  be 
satisfied  with  the  most  indifferent  attainments,  and  a 
miserable  mediocrity,  without  so  much  as  inquiring  how 
they  may  rise  higher,  much  less,  making  any  attempt  to 
rise.  For  any  other  art  they  would  have  served  an  appren- 
ticeship and  would  be  ashamed  to  practise  it  in  public 
before  they  had  learned  it.  If  any  one  would  sing,  he 
attends  a  master,  and  is  drilled  in  the  very  elementary  prin- 
ciples ;  and  it  is  only  after  the  most  laborious  process  that 
he  dares  to  exercise  his  voice  in  public.  This  he  does, 


74  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


though  he  has  scarcely  anything  to  learn  but  the  mechani- 
cal execution  of  what  lies  in  sensible  forms  before  the  eye. 
But  the  extempore  speaker,  who  is  to  invent,  as  well  as  to 
utter,  to  carry  on  an  operation  of  the  mind,  as  well  as  to 
produce  sound,  enters  upon  the  work  without  preparatory 
discipline,  and  then  wonders  that  he  fails !  If  he  were 
learning  to  play  on  the  flute  for  public  exhibition,  how 
many  hours  and  days  would  he  spend  in  giving  facility  to 
his  fingers,  and  in  attaining  the  power  of  the  sweetest  and 
most  expressive  execution  !  " 

The  author  cannot  commend  too  highly  the  following 
comparison  between  ancient  and  modern  oratory  by  John 
Quincy  Adams: 

"At  the  revival  of  letters  in  modern  Europe,  Eloquence, 
together  with  her  sister  muses,  awoke,  and  shook  the  pop- 
pies from  her  brow.  But  their  torpors  still  tingled  in  her 
veins.  In  the  interval  her  voice  was  gone  ;  her  favourite 
languages  were  extinct ;  her  organs  were  no  longer  attuned 
to  harmony,  and  her  hearers  could  no  longer  understand  her 
speech.  The  discordant  jargon  of  feudal  anarchy  had  ban- 
ished the  musical  dialects,  in  which  she  had  always 
delighted.  The  theatre's  of  her  former  triumphs  were 
either  deserted,  or  they  were  filled  with  the  babblers  of 
sophistry  and  chicane.  She  shrunk  intuitively  from  the 
forum,  for  the  last  object  she  remembered  to  have  seen 
there  was  the  head  of  her  darling  Cicero,  planted  upon  the 
rostrum.  She  ascended  the  tribunals  of  justice  ;  there  she 
found  her  child,  Persuasion,  manacled  and  pinioned  by  the 
/letter  of  the  law  ;  there  she  beheld  an  image  of  herself,  stam- 
mering in  barbarous  Latin,  and  staggering  under  the  lum- 
ber of  a  thousand  volumes.  Her  heart  fainted  within  her. 
She  lost  all  confidence  in  herself.  Tegether  with  her  irre- 
sistible powers,  she  lost  proportionably  the  consideration  of 
the  world,  until,  instead  of  comprising  the  whole  system  of 
public  education,  she  found  herself  excluded  from  the  circle 
of  sciences,  and  declared  an  outlaw  from  the  realms  of 
learning.  She  was  not,  however,  doomed  to  eternal  silence. 
With  the  progress  of  freedom  and  of  liberal  science,  in  vari- 


MODERN  ORATORY:  ?$ 


ous  parts  of  modern  Europe,  she  obtained  access  to  mingle 
in  the  deliberations  of  their  parliaments.  With  labour  and 
difficulty  she  learned  their  languages,  and  lent  her  aid  in 
giving  them  form  and  polish.  But  she  has  never  recovered 
the  graces  of  her  former  beauty,  nor  the  energies  of  her 
ancient  vigour. 

"  The  immeasurable  superiority  of  ancient  over  modern 
oratory  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  circumstances  which 
offer  themselves  to  the  scrutiny  of  reflecting  minds,  and  it  is 
in  the  languages,  the  institutions,  and  the  manners  of  modern 
Europe,  that  the  solution  of  a  phenomenon  so  extraordi- 
nary must  be  sought.  The  assemblies  of  the  people,  of  the 
select  councils,  or  of  the  senate  in  Athens  and  Rome,  were 
held  for  the  purpose  of  real  deliberation.  The  fate  of  meas- 
ures was  not  decided  before  they  were  proposed.  Eloquence 
produced  a  powerful  effect,  not  only  upon  the  minds  of  the 
hearers,  but  upon  the  issue  of  the  deliberation.  In  the  only 
countries  of  modern  Europe,  where  the  semblance  of  delib- 
erative assemblies  has  been  preserved,  corruption,  here  in 
the  form  of  executive  influence,  there  in  the  guise  of  party 
spirit,  by  introducing  a  more  compendious  mode  of  securing 
decisions,  has  crippled  the  sublimest  efforts  of  oratory,  and 
the  votes  upon  questions  of  magnitude  to  the  interest  of 
nations  are  all  told,  long  before  the  questions  themselves 
are  submitted  to  discussion.  Hence  those  nations,  which 
for  ages  have  gloried  in  the  devotion  to  literature,  science, 
and  the  arts,  have  never  been  able  to  exhibit  a  specimen  of 
deliberative  oratory  that  can  bear  a  comparison  with  those 
transmitted  down  to  us  from  antiquity. 

"  Religion  indeed  has  opened  one  new  avenue  to  the 
career  of  eloquence.  Amidst  the  sacrifices  of  paganism  to 
her  three  hundred  thousand  gods,  amidst  her  sagacious  and 
solemn  consultations  in  the  entrails  of  slaughtered  brutes, 
in  the  flight  of  birds,  and  the  feeding  of  fowls,  it  had  never 
entered  her  imagination  to  call  upon  the  pontiff,  the  haru- 
spex,  or  the  augur,  for  discourses  to  the  people,  on  the 
nature  of  their  duties  to  their  Maker,  their  fellow-mortals, 
and  themselves.  This  was  an  idea,  too  august  to  be  mingled 


76  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


with  the  absurd  and  ridiculous,  or  profligate  and  barbarous 
rites  of  her  deplorable  superstition.  It  is  an  institution,  for 
which  mankind  are  indebted  to  Christianity  ;  introduced  by 
the  Founder  himself  of  this  divine  religion,  and  in  every 
point  of  view  worthy  of  its  high  original.  Its  effects  have 
been  to  soften  the  tempers  and  purify  the  morals  of  man- 
kind ;  not  in  so  high  a  degree  as  benevolence  could  wish, 
but  enough  to  call  forth  our  strains  of  warmest  gratitude  to 
that  good  Being,  who  provides  us  with  the  means  of  pro- 
moting our  own  felicity,  and  gives  us  power  to  stand, 
though  leaving  us  free  to  fall.  Here  then  is  an  unbounded 
and  inexhaustible  field  for  eloquence,  never  explored  by  the 
ancient  orators  ;  and  here  alone  have  the  modern  Europeans 
cultivated  the  art  with  much  success.  In  vain  should  we 
enter  the  halls  of  justice,  in  vain  should  we  listen  to  debates 
of  senates  for  strains  of  oratory  worthy  of  remembrance 
beyond  the  duration  of  the  occasion  which  called  them 
forth.  The  art  of  embalming  thought  by  oratory,  like  that 
of  embalming  bodies  by  aromatics,  would  have  perished, 
but  for  the  exercises  of  religion.  These  alone  have  in  the 
latter  ages  furnished  discourses  which  remind  us  that  elo- 
quence is  yet  a  faculty  of  the  human  mind. 

"  Among  the  causes  which  have  contributed  thus  to  depress 
the  oratory  of  modern  times,  must  be  numbered  the  indiffer- 
ence with  which  it  has  been  treated  as  an  article  of  educa- 
tion. The  ancients  had  fostered  an  opinion,  that  this  talent 
was  in  a  more  than  usual  degree  the  creature  of  discipline ; 
and  it  is  one  of  the  maxims  handed  down  to  us  as  a  result 
of  their  experience,  that  men  must  be  born  to  poetry,  and 
bred  to  eloquence  ;  that  the  bard  is  always  the  child  of 
nature,  and  the  orator  always  the  issue  of  instruction.  The 
doctrine  seems  to  be  not  entirely  without  foundation,  but 
was  by  them  carried  in  both  its  parts  to  an  extravagant 
excess. 

"  The  foundations  for  the  oratorical  talent,  as  well  as  those 
of  the  poetical  faculty,  must  be  laid  in  the  bounties  of 
nature ;  and  as  the  muse  in  Homer,  impartial  in  her  dis- 
tribution of  good  and  evil,  struck  the  bard  with  blindness, 


MODERN  ORATORY.  77 

when  she  gave  him  the  powers  of  song,  her  sister  not  unfre- 
quently,  by  a  like  mixture  of  tenderness  and  rigour,  bestows 
the  blessing  of  wisdom,  while  she  refuses  the  readiness  of 
utterance.  Without  entering  however  into  a  disquisition 
which  would  lead  me  far  beyond  the  limits  of  this  occasion, 
I  may  remark  that  the  modern  Europeans  have  run  into 
the  adverse  extreme,  and  appear,  during  a  considerable 
period*,  in  their  system  of  public  education,  to  have  passed 
upon  eloquence  a  sentence  of  proscription.  Even  when 
they  studied  RHETORIC  as  a  theory,  they  neglected 
ORATORY  as  an  art ;  and  while  assiduously  unfolding  to 
their  pupils  the  bright  displays  of  Greek  and  Roman  elo- 
quence, they  never  attempted  to  make  them  eloquent 
themselves." 

The  golden  age  of  modern  parliamentary  and  forensic 
oratory  was  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century.  This 
period  was  illuminated  by  the  brilliant  genius  of  Vergniaud 
and  Mirabeau  in  France;  of  Chatham,  Burke,  Pitt,  Fox, 
Sheridan,  Grattan,  Curran,  and  Erskine  in  England  ;  of 
Henry,  Otis,  Warren,  the  Adamses,  and  many  others  in 
America.  It  was  not  only  an  age  of  oratorical  glory,  but  of 
literary  and  scientific  greatness. 

It  was  an  illustrious  period,  too,  in  political  history  for 
some  of  the  most  important  events  that  have  ever  occurred. 

Mr.  Alison  has  so  beautifully  described  this  era,  which 
may  be  designated  as  that  of  George  III.,  that  the  author 
cannot  forbear  repeating  a  passage  of  his  graphic  descrip- 
tion, affording  a  grand  view  of  the  world  when  the  "  flame 
of  eloquence  shone  so  steadily  and  burned  so  brightly  in 
Europe  and  America."  The  eloquent  historian  mentioned 
says: 

"The  reign  of  George  III.  embraces,  beyond  all  question, 
the  most  eventful  and  important  period  in  the  annals  of 
mankind.  In  its  eventful  days  were  combined  the  growth 
of  Grecian  democracy  with  the  passions  of  Roman  ambi- 
tion ;  the  fervour  of  plebeian  zeal  with  the  pride  of  aristo- 
cratic power;  the  blood  of  Marius  with  the  genius  of  Caesar; 
the  opening  of  a  nobler  hemisphere  to  the  enterprise  of  Co- 


78  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


lumbus,  with  the  rise  of  a  social  agent  as  mighty  as  the  press 
or  the  powers  of  steam. 

"  But  if  new  elements  were  called  into  action  in  the  social 
world,  of  surpassing  strength  and  energy,  in  the  course  of 
this  memorable  reign,  still  more  remarkable  were  the  char- 
acters which  rose  to  eminence  during  its  continuance.  The 
military  genius,  unconquerable  courage,  and  enduring  con- 
stancy of  Frederick  ;  the  ardent  mind,  burning  eloquence, 
and  lofty  patriotism  of  Chatham  ;  the  incorruptible  integrity, 
sagacious  intellect,  and  philosophic  spirit  of  Franklin ;  the 
disinterested  virtue,  prophetic  wisdom,  and  imperturbable 
fortitude  of  Washington  ;  the  masculine  understanding,  fem- 
inine passions,  and  blood-stained  ambition  of  Catharine, 
would  alone  have  been  sufficient  to  cast  a  radiance  over  any 
other  age  of  the  world.  But  bright  as  were  the  stars  of  its 
morning  light,  more  brilliant  still  was  the  constellation 
which  shone  forth  in  its  meridian  splendour,  or  cast  a  glow 
over  the  twilight  of  its  evening  shades.  Then  were  to  be 
seen  the  rival  genius  of  Pitt  and  Fox,  which,  emblematic  of 
the  antagonist  powers  which  then  convulsed  mankind,  shook 
the  British  senate  by  their  vehemence,  and  roused  the  spirit 
destined,  ere  long,  for  the  dearest  interests  of  humanity,  to 
array  the  world  in  arms ;  then  the  great  soul  of  Burke  cast 
off  the  unworldly  fetters  of  ambition  or  party,  and,  fraught 
with  a  giant's  force  and  a  prophet's  wisdom,  regained  its 
destiny  in  the  cause  of  mankind  ;  then  the  arm  of  Nelson 
cast  its  thunderbolts  on  every  shore,  and  preserved  un- 
scathed in  the  deep  the  ark  of  European  freedom  ;  and,  ere 
his  reign  expired,  the  wisdom  of  Wellington  had  erected  an 
impassable  barrier  to  Gallic  ambition,  and  said,  even  to  the 
deluge  of  imperial  power,  '  Hitherto  shalt  thou  come  and 
no  farther,  and  here  shall  thy  proud  waves  be  stayed.'  Nor 
were  splendid  genius,  heroic  virtue,  gigantic  wickedness 
wanting  on  the  opposite  side  of  this  heart-stirring  conflict. 
Mirabeau  had  thrown  over  the  morning  of  the  French 
Revolution  the  brilliant  but  deceitful  light  of  democratic 
genius ;  Danton  had  coloured  its  noontide  glow  with  the 
passions  and  the  energy  of  tribunitian  power ;  Carnot  had 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  ROME.  79 


exhibited  the  combination,  rare  in  a  corrupted  age,  of  re- 
publican energy  with  private  virtue ;  Robespierre  had  dark- 
ened its  evening  days  by  the  blood  and  agony  of  selfish 
ambition ;  Napoleon  had  risen  like  a  meteor  over  its  mid- 
night darkness,  dazzled  the  world  by  the  brightness  of  his 
genius  and  the  lustre  of  his  deeds,  and  lured  its  votaries,  by 
the  deceitful  blaze  of  glory,  to  perdition. 

"  In  calmer  pursuits  in  the  tranquil  walks  of  science  and 
literature,  the  same  age  was,  beyond  all  others,  fruitful  in 
illustrious  men.  Doctor  Johnson,  the  strongest  intellect 
and  the  most  profound  observer  of  the  eighteenth  century ; 
Gibbon,  the  architect  of  a  bridge  over  the  dark  gulf  which 
separates  ancient  from  modern  times,  whose  vivid  genius 
has  tinged  with  brilliant  colours  the  greatest  historical  work 
in  existence;  Hume,  whose  simple  but  profound  history 
will  be  coeval  with  the  long  and  eventful  thread  of  English 
story  ;  Robertson,  who  first  threw  over  the  maze  of  human 
events  the  light  of  philosophic  genius  and  the  spirit  of  en- 
lightened reflection ;  Gray,  whose  burning  thoughts  had 
been  condensed  in  words  of  more  than  classic  beauty ; 
Burns,  whose  lofty  soul  spread  its  own  pathos  and  dignity 
over  the  '  short  and  simple  annals  of  the  poor ' ;  Smith,  who 
called  into  existence  a  new  science,  fraught  with  the  dearest 
interests  of  humanity,  and  nearly  brought  it  to  perfection  in 
a  single  lifetime ;  Reid,  who  carried  into  the  recesses  of  the 
human  mind  the  torch  of  cool  and  sagacious  inquiry  ;  Stew- 
art, who  cast  a  luminous  glance  over  the  philosophy  of 
mind,  and  warmed  the  inmost  recesses  of  metaphysical  in- 
quiry by  the  delicacy  of  taste  and  the  glow  of  eloquence  ; 
Watt,  who  added  an  unknown  power  to  the  resources  of 
art,  and  in  the  regulated  force  of  steam  discovered  the 
means  of  approximating  the  most  distant  parts  of  the  earth 
and  spreading  in  the  wilderness  of  nature  the  wonders  of 
European  enterprise  and  the  blessings  of  Christian  civilisa- 
tion ;  these  formed  some  of  the  ornaments  of  the  period, 
during  its  earlier  and  more  pacific  times,  forever  memorable 
in  the  annals  of  scientific  acquisition  and  literary  greatness." 

The  author  feels  that  he  would  not  do  his  subject  justice 


80  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


if  he  did  not  here  quote  the  valuable,  and  in  the  main  just, 
observations  of  Dr.  Blair  upon  modern  eloquence.  He  dif- 
fers, however,  from  that  author  when  he  says,  agreeing  with 
Mr.  Hume,  that  the  English  bar  does  not  afford  a  fine 
theatre  for  oratory.  In  forming  this  conclusion  these  dis- 
tinguished writers  laboured  under  some  disadvantage,  for 
they  had  only  before  their  view  the  Scottish  bar,  where  the 
trial  by  jury  is  allowed  only  in  criminal  cases,  or  was  at  least 
at  the  time  he  wrote.  But  in  England  and  America,  where 
in  the  superior  as  well  as  inferior  judicatures,  almost  every 
cause  is  tried  by  a  jury  of  twelve  men,  fairly  selected  by  ballot, 
the  very  finest  opportunity  for  the  display  of  eloquence  is 
afforded  the  advocate.  The  author  will  grant  what  Dr.  Blair 
says,  that  he  is  in  some  degree  confined  by  the  precision  of 
our  laws,  still  he  speaks  to  the  jury  largely  on  matters  of  fact, 
and  the  less  of  technical  language  he  uses  the  greater  will 
be  the  effect  of  what  he  says.  .  Of  course,  the  sober  charac- 
ter of  the  people  in  the  countries  mentioned,  and  the  feeling 
of  jurymen  that  they  are  bound  by  their  oaths,  prevent  them 
from  being  unduly  swayed  by  the  eloquence  of  advocates. 
As  Dr.  Blair's  work  has  been  largely  used  as  a  text-book,  the 
author  is  inclined  to  believe  that  his  dictum  has  influenced 
many  lawyers  to  pay  less  attention  to  the  study  of  forensic 
oratory  than  they  should  have  given  it.  Eloquence  is,  or 
should  be,  spoken  wisdom,  and  it  is  so  described  by  Cicero. 
It  is  certain  that  nearly  every  successful  aspirant  for  political 
or  forensic  honours,  even  in  America,  has  been  an  untiring 
student  of  oratory.  With  these  remarks  of  a  prefatory  char- 
acter, the  author  inserts  at  this  place  Dr.  Blair's  observations 
upon  modern  eloquence: 

"  In  the  decline  of  the  Roman  empire,  the  introduction 
of  Christianity  gave  rise  to  a  new  species  of  eloquence,  in 
the  apologies,  sermons,  and  pastoral  writings  of  the  Fathers 
of  the  Church.  Among  the  Latin  Fathers,  Lactantius  and 
Minutius  Felix  are  the  most  remarkable  for  purity  of  style ; 
and,  in  a  later  age,  the  famous  St.  Augustine  possesses  a 
considerable  share  of  sprightliness  and  strength.  But  none 
of  the  Fathers*  afford  any  just  models  of  eloquence.  Their 


MODERN  ORATORY.  8 1 


language,  as  soon  as  we  descend  to  the  third  or  fourth  cen- 
tury, becomes  harsh ;  and  they  are,  in  general,  infected  with 
the  taste  of  that  age,  a  love  of  swollen  and  strained  thoughts, 
and  of  the  play  of  words.  Among  the  Greek  Fathers,  the 
most  distinguished  by  far,  for  his  oratorical  merit,  is  St. 
Chrysostom.  His  language  is  pure,  his  style  highly  figured. 
He  is  copious,  smooth,  and  sometimes  pathetic.  But  he 
retains,  at  the  same  time,  much  of  that  character  which  has 
been  always  attributed  to  the  Asiatic  eloquence,  diffuse  and 
redundant  to  a  great  degree,  and  often  overwrought  and 
tumid.  He  may  be  read,  however,  with  advantage,  for  the 
eloquence  of  the  pulpit,  as  being  freer  from  false  ornaments 
than  the  Latin  Fathers. 

"  As  there  is  nothing  more  that  occurs  to  me,  deserving 
particular  attention  in  the  middle  age,  I  pass  now  to  the 
state  of  eloquence  in  modern  times.  Here,  it  must  be  con- 
fessed, that  in  no  European  nation  public  speaking  has  been 
considered  as  so  great  an  object,  or  been  cultivated  with  so 
much  care,  as  in  Greece  or  Rome.  Its  reputation  has  never 
been  so  high ;  its  effects  have  never  been  so  considerable : 
nor  has  that  high  and  sublime  kind  of  it,  which  prevailed  in 
those  ancient  states,  been  so  much  as  aimed  at :  notwith- 
standing, too,  that  a  new  profession  has  been  established, 
which  gives  peculiar  advantages  to  oratory,  and  affords  it 
the  noblest  field  ;  I  mean  that  of  the  Church.  The  genius 
of  the  world  seems,  in  this  respect,  to  have  undergone  some 
alteration.  The  two  countries  where  we  might  expect  to 
find  most  of  the  spirit  of  eloquence  are  France  and  Great 
Britain  :  France,  on  account  of  the  distinguished  turn  of  the 
nation  towards  all  the  liberal  arts,  and  of  the  encouragement 
which,  for  this  century  past,  these  arts  have  received  from 
the  public ;  Great  Britain,  on  account  both  of  the  public 
capacity  and  genius,  and  of  the  free  government  which  it 
enjoys.  Yet  so  it  is,  that,  in  neither  of  those  countries,  has 
the  talent  of  public  speaking  risen  near  to  the  degree  of  its 
ancient  splendour;  while  in  other  productions  of  genius, 
both  in  prose  and  in  poetry,  they  have  contended  for  the 
prize  with  Greece  and  Rome  ;  nay,  in  some  compositions, 

6 


82  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


may  be  thought  to  have  surpassed  them :  the  names  of  De- 
mosthenes and  Cicero  stand,  at  this  day,  unrivalled  in  fame  ; 
and  it  would  be  held  presumptuous  and  absurd  to  pretend 
to  place  any  modern  whatever  in  the  same,  or  even  in  a 
nearly  equal  rank. 

"  It  seems  particularly  surprising  that  Great  Britain  should 
not  have  made  a  more  conspicuous  figure  in  eloquence  than 
it  has  hitherto  attained  ;  when  we  consider  the  enlightened, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  the  free  and  bold  genius  of  the  coun- 
try, which  seems  not  a  little  to  favour  oratory ;  and  when 
we  consider  that,  of  all  the  polite  nations,  it  alone  possesses 
a  popular  government,  or  admits  into  the  legislature  such 
^numerous  assemblies  as  can  be  supposed  to  lie  under  the 
dominion  of  eloquence.  Notwithstanding  this  advantage, 
it  must  be  confessed  that,  in  most  parts  of  eloquence,  we 
are  undoubtedly  inferior,  not  only  to  the  Greeks  and  Ro- 
mans by  many  degrees,  but  also  to  the  French.  We  have 
philosophers,  eminent  and  conspicuous,  perhaps,  beyond 
any  nation,  in  all  the  parts  of  science.  We  have  both  taste 
and  erudition  in  a  high  degree.  We  have  historians,  we 
have  poets  of  the  greatest  name  ;  but  of  orators,  of  public 
speakers,  how  little  have  we  to  boast !  And  where  are  the 
monuments  of  their  genius  to  be  found  !  In  every  period 
we  have  had  some  who  made  a  figure,  by  managing  the 
debates  in  parliament ;  but  that  figure  was  commonly  owing 
to  their  wisdom,  or  their  experience  in  business,  more  than 
to  their  talent  for  oratory  ;  and  unless  in  some  few  instances, 
wherein  the  power  of  oratory  has  appeared,  indeed,  with 
much  lustre,  the  art  of  parliamentary  speaking  rather  ob- 
tained to  several  a  temporary  applause,  than  conferred  upon 
any  a  lasting  renown.  At  the  bar,  though  questionless,  we 
have  many  able  pleaders,  yet  few  or  none  of  their  pleadings 
have  been  thought  worthy  to  be  transmitted  to  posterity, 
or  have  commanded  attention  any  longer  than  the  cause 
which  was  the  subject  of  them  interested  the  public  ;  while 
in  France,  the  pleadings  of  Patru,  in  the  former  age,  and 
those  of  Couching  and  D'Aguesseau,  in  later  times,  are  read 
with  pleasure,  and  are  often  quoted  as  examples  of  eloquence 


MODERN  ORATORY.  83 


by  the  French  critics.  In  the  same  manner,  in  the  pulpit, 
the  British  divines  have  distinguished  themselves  by  the 
most  accurate  and  rational  compositions  which,  perhaps,  any 
nation  can  boast  of.  Many  printed  sermons  we  have,  full 
of  good  sense,  and  of  sound  divinity  and  morality ;  but  the 
eloquence  to  be  found  in  them,  the  power  of  persuasion,  of 
interesting  and  engaging  the  heart,  which  is,  or  ought  to  be, 
the  great  object  of  the  pulpit,  is  far  from  bearing  a  suitable 
proportion  to  the  excellence  of  the  matter.  There  are  few 
arts,  in  my  opinion,  farther  from  perfection  than  that  of 
preaching  is  among  us ;  the  reasons  of  which  I  shall  after- 
wards have  occasion  to  discuss.  In  proof  of  the  fact,  it  is 
sufficient  to  observe,  that  an  English  sermon,  instead  of 
being  a  persuasive,  animated  oration,  seldom  rises  beyond 
the  strain  of  correct  and  dry  reasoning;  whereas,  in  the 
sermons  of  Bossuet,  Massilon,  Bourdaloue,  and  Flechier, 
among  the  French,  we  see  a  much  higher  species  of  elo- 
quence aimed  at,  and  in  a  great  measure  attained,  than  the 
British  preachers  have  in  view. 

"  In  general,  the  characteristical  difference  between  the 
state  of  eloquence  in  France  and  in  Great  Britain  is,  that 
the  French  have  adopted  higher  ideas  both  of  pleasing  and 
persuading  by  means  of  oratory,  though,  sometimes,  in  the 
execution,  they  fail.  In  Great  Britain  we  have  taken  up 
eloquence  in  a  lower  key ;  but  in  our  execution,  as  was 
naturally  to  be  expected,  have  been  more  correct.  In 
France,  the  style  of  their  orators  is  ornamented  with  bolder 
figure,  and  their  discourse  carried  on  with  more  amplifica- 
tion, more  warmth  and  elevation.  The  composition  is  often 
very  beautiful ;  but  sometimes,  also,  too  diffuse  and  deficient 
in  that  strength  and  cogency  which  renders  eloquence  pow- 
erful ;  a  defect  owing,  perhaps,  in  part,  to  the  genius  of  the 
people,  which  leads  them  to  attend  fully  as  much  to  orna- 
ment as  to  substance,  and,  in  part,  to  the  nature  of  their 
government,  which  by  excluding  public  speaking  from  hav- 
ing much  influence  on  the  conduct  of  public  affairs,  deprives 
eloquence  of  its  best  opportunity  for  acquiring  nerves  and 
strength.  Hence  the  pulpit  is  the  principal  field  which  is 


84  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


left  for  their  eloquence.  The  members,  too,  of  the  French 
Academy  give  harangues  at  their  admission,  in  which  genius 
often  appears ;  but,  labouring  under  the  misfortune  of  having 
no  subject  to  discourse  upon,  they  run  commonly  into  flat- 
tery and  panegyric,  the  most  barren  and  insipid  of  all 
topics. 

"  I  observed  before,  that  the  Greeks  and  Romans  aspired 
to  a  more  sublime  species  of  eloquence  than  is  aimed  at  by 
the  moderns.  Theirs  was  of  the  vehement  and  passionate 
kind,  by  which  they  endeavoured  to  inflame  the  minds  of 
their  hearers,  and  hurry  their  imaginations  away  ;  and,  suit- 
able to  this  vehemence  of  thought,  was  their  vehemence  of 
gesture  and  action  ;  the  '  supplosio  pedis,'  the  '  percussio 
frontis  et  femoris,'  were,  as  we  learn  from  Cicero's  writings, 
usual  gestures  among  them  at  the  bar ;  though  now  they 
would  be  reckoned  extravagant  anywhere,  except  upon  the 
stage.  Modern  eloquence  is  much  more  cool  and  temper- 
ate ;  and  in  Great  Britain  especially,  has  confined  itself 
almost  wholly  to  the  argumentative  and  rational.  It  is 
much  of  that  species  which  the  ancient  critics  called  the 
1  Tenuis/  or  '  Subtilis ' ;  which  aims  at  convincing  and  in- 
structing, rather  than  affecting  the  passions,  and  assumes  a 
tone  not  much  higher  than  common  argument  and  dis- 
course. 

"  Several  reasons  may  be  given  why  modern  eloquence  has 
been  so  limited,  and  humble  in  its  efforts.  In  the  first  place, 
I  am  of  opinion  that  this  change  must,  in  part,  be  ascribed 
to  that  correct  turn  of  thinking  which  has  been  so  much 
studied  in  modern  times.  It  can  hardly  be  doubted  that,  in 
many  efforts  of  mere  genius,  the  ancient  Greeks  and  Romans 
excelled  us,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  that,  in  accuracy  and 
closeness  of  reasoning  on  many  subjects,  we  have  some  ad- 
vantage over  them,  ought,  I  think,  to  be  admitted  also.  In 
proportion  as  the  world  has  advanced,  philosophy  has  made 
greater  progress.  A  certain  strictness  of  good  sense  has,  in 
this  island  particularly,  been  cultivated  and  introduced  into 
every  subject.  Hence  we  are  more  on  our  guard  against  the 
flowers  of  elocution  ;  we  are  now  on  the  watch  ;  we  are 


MODERN  ORATORY.  85 


jealous  of  being  deceived  by  oratory.  Our  public  speakers 
are  obliged  to  be  more  reserved  than  the  ancients,  in  their 
attempts  to  elevate  the  imagination,  and  warm  the  passions; 
and  by  the  influence  of  prevailing  taste,  their  own  genius  is 
sobered  and  chastened,  perhaps,  in  too  great  a  degree.  It 
is  likely  too,  I  confess,  that  what  we  fondly  ascribe  to  our 
correctness  and  good  sense,  is  owing  in  a  great  measure  to 
our  phlegm  and  natural  coldness.  For  the  vivacity  and  sensi- 
bility of  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  more  especially  of  the 
former,  seem  to  have  been  much  greater  than  ours,  and  to 
have  given  them  a  higher  relish  of  all  the  beauties  of 
oratory. 

"  Besides  these  national  considerations,  we  must,  in  the 
next  place,  attend  to  peculiar  circumstances  in  the  three 
great  scenes  of  public  speaking,  which  have  proved  disad- 
vantageous to  the  growth  of  eloquence  among  us.  Though 
the  parliament  of  Great  Britain  be  the  noblest  field  which 
Europe,  at  this  day,  affords  to  a  public  speaker,  yet  elo- 
quence has  never  been  so  powerful  an  instrument  there  as  it 
was  in  the  popular  assemblies  of  Greece  and  Rome.  Under 
some  former  reigns,  the  right  hand  of  arbitrary  power  bore 
a  violent  sway  ;  and  in  latter  times,  ministerial  influence  has 
generally  prevailed.  The  power  of  speaking,  though  always 
considerable,  yet  has  been  often  found  too  feeble  to  counter- 
balance either  of  these  ;  and,  of  course,  has  not  been  studied 
with  so  much  zeal  and  favour  as  where  its  effect  on  business 
was  irresistible  and  certain. 

"  At  the  bar,  our  disadvantage,  in  comparison  of  the  an- 
cients, is  great.  Among  them,  the  judges  were  generally 
numerous  ;  the  laws  were  few  and  simple  ;  the  decision  of 
causes  was  left,  in  a  great  measure,  to  equity  and  the  sense 
of  mankind.  Here  was  an  ample  field  for  what  they  termed 
judicial  eloquence.  But  among  the  moderns  the  case  is 
quite  altered.  The  system  of  law  is  become  much  more 
complicated.  The  knowledge  of  it  is  thereby  rendered 
so  laborious  an  attainment,  as  to  be  the  chief  object  of  a 
lawyer's  education,  and  in  a  manner  the  study  of  his  life. ' 
The  art  of  speaking  is  but  a  secondary  accomplishment  to 


86  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


which  he  can  afford  to  devote  much  less  of  his  time  and 
labour.  The  bounds  of  eloquence,  besides,  are  now  much 
circumscribed  at  the  bar ;  and,  except  in  a  few  cases,  reduced 
to  arguing  from  strict  law,  statute,  or  precedent,  by  which 
means  knowledge,  much  more  than  oratory,  is  become  the 
principal  requisite. 

"  With  regard  to  the  pulpit,  it  has  certainly  been  a  great 
disadvantage  that  the  practice  of  reading  sermons,  instead 
of  repeating  them  from  memory,  has  prevailed  so  univers- 
ally in  England.  They  may,  indeed,  have  introduced  accu- 
racy, but  it  has  done  great  prejudice  to  eloquence,  for  a 
discourse  read  is  far  inferior  to  an  oration  spoken.  It  leads 
to  a  different  sort  of  composition,  as  well  as  of  delivery,  and 
can  never  have  an  equal  effect  upon  any  audience.  An- 
other circumstance,  too,  has  been  unfortunate.  The  secta- 
ries and  fanatics,  before  the  Restoration,  adopted  a  warm, 
zealous,  and  popular  manner  of  preaching ;  and  those  who 
adhered  to  them,  in  after  times,  continued  to  distinguish 
themselves  by  somewhat  of  the  same  manner.  The  odium 
of  these  sects  drove  the  established  church  from  that  warmth 
which  they  were  judged  to  have  carried  too  far,  into  the 
opposite  extreme  of  a  studied  coolness  and  composure  of 
manner.  Hence,  from  the  art  of  persuasion,  which  preach- 
ing ought  always  to  be,  it  has  passed,  in  England,  into  mere 
reasoning  and  instruction,  which  not  only  has  brought  down 
the  eloquence  of  the  pulpit  to  a  lower  tone  than  it  might 
justly  assume,  but  has  produced  this  farther  effect  that,  by 
accustoming  the  public  ear  to  such  cool  and  dispassionate 
discourses,  it  has  tended  to  fashion  other  kinds  of  public 
speaking  upon  the  same  model. 

Thus  I  have  given  some  view  of  the  state  of  eloquence 
in  modern  times,  and  endeavoured  to  account  for  it.  It  has, 
as  we  have  seen,  fallen  below  that  splendour  which  it  main- 
tained in  ancient  ages,  and  from  being  sublime  and  vehement, 
has  come  down  to  be  temperate  and  cool.  Yet,  still,  in  that 
region  which  it  occupies,  it  admits  great  scope ;  and  to  the 
defect  of  zeal  and  application,  more  than  to  the  want  of 
capacity  and  genius,  we  may  ascribe  its  not  having  hitherto 


MODERN  ORATORY.  8/ 


risen  higher.  It  is  a  field  where  there  is  much  honour  yet  to 
be  reaped  ;  it  is  an  instrument  which  may  be  employed  for 
purposes  of  the  highest  importance.  The  ancient  models 
may  still,  with  much  advantage,  be  set  before  us  for  imita- 
tion, though  in  that  imitation  we  must,  doubtless,  have  some 
regard  to  what  modern  taste  and  modern  manners  will 
bear,  of  which  I  shall  afterwards  have  occasion  to  say  more. 

Lawyers,  eloquent,  fearless,  and  honest,  have  always  been 
among  the  first  to  resist  the  encroachments  of  tyranny,  and 
promote  the  welfare  of  the  human  race. 

History  proves  the  truth  of  this  assertion. 

Demosthenes,  who  roused  the  Athenians  to  arms  against 
the  tyrannical  Philip,  was  a  lawyer ;  Cicero,  who  did  such 
valiant  service  for  the  cause  of  freedom,  and  whose  eloquent 
orations  still  nerve  the  patriot's  arm  and  fire  his  heart,  was 
a  lawyer.  When  Charles  I.  endeavoured  to  establish  an 
absolute  monarchy  in  England,  he  was  first  opposed  by 
lawyers.  France  has  been  regenerated  by  lawyers,  and  at 
the  present  moment  her  greatest  statesmen  are  lawyers. 

When  Great  Britain  endeavoured  to  deprive  the  Colonies 
of  their  rights,  they  were  aroused  to  conquest  by  the  voices 
of  Otis,  Henry,  Adams,  and  other  lawyers,  and  the  beacon 
lights  of  patriotism  and  law  are  kept  burning  by  lawyers  at 
the  present  moment  in  England  and  America,  and  it  is  to 
be  hoped  that  they  will  be  perpetually  kindled  by  them 
until  time  is  merged  into  eternity. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

ORATORY  IN   ENGLAND. 

^*HE  conduct  of  advocates  in  England  has  been  sub- 
jected to  very  little  legislative  interference.  A 
statute,  however,  which  is  still  in  force,  was  passed 
in  1275,  in  the  reign  of  Edward  L,  whereby  it  was  provided, 
"  That  if  any  sergeant,  countor,  or  others,  do  any  manner 
of  deceit  or  collusion  in  the  king's  court,  or  consent  unto  it, 
in  deceit  of  the  court,  or  to  beguile  the  court,  or  the  party, 
and  thereof  be  attainted,  he  shall  be  imprisoned  for  a  year 
and  a  day,  and  from  thenceforth  shall  not  be  heard  to  plead 
in  that  court  for  any  man  ;  and  if  he  be  no  countor,  he  shall 
be  imprisoned  in  like  manner  by  the  space  of  a  year  and  a 
day  at  least ;  and  if  the  trespass  shall  require  greater  punish- 
ment it  shall  be  at  the  king's  pleasure." 

In  the  Mirroir  des  Justices,  one  of  the  most  ancient  Eng- 
lish law  books  extant,  it  is  laid  down  that  every  pleader  (or 
countor  as  he  is  called)  on  behalf  of  others  ought  to  have 
regard  to  four  things :  First,  that  he  be  a  person  receivable 
in  judgment  ;  that  he  be  no  heretic,  excommunicate  person, 
nor  criminal,  nor  a  man  of  religion,  nor  a  woman,  nor  a  ben- 
eficed  clerk  with  cure  of  souls,  nor  under  the  age  of  twenty- 
one  years,  nor  judge  in  the  same  cause,  nor  attainted  of 
falsity  against  the  right  of  his  office.  Secondly,  every 
pleader  is  to  be  charged  by  oath  that  he  will  not  maintain 
nor  defend  what  is  wrong  or  false  to  his  knowledge,  but  will 
fight  (guerra)  for  his  client  to  the  utmost  of  his  ability. 
Thirdly,  he  is  to  put  in  before  the  court  no  false  delays 
(dilatory  pleas),  nor  false  evidence,  nor  move  nor  offer  any 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  ENGLAND.  89 


corruptions,  deceits,  or  tricks,  or  false  lies,  nor  consent  to  any 
such,  but  truly  maintain  the  right  of  his  client,  so  that  it 
fail  not  through  any  folly,  negligence,  or  default  in  him. 
Fourthly,  in  respect  to  his  salary  four  things  are  to  be  con- 
sidered— the  value  of  the  cause  ;  the  pains  of  the  sergeant ; 
the  worth  of  the  pleader  in  point  of  knowledge,  eloquence, 
and  gifts  ;  the  usage  of  the  court.  And  a  pleader  is  to  be 
suspended  if  he  be  attainted  of  having  received  fees  from 
both  sides  in  the  same  cause,  and  if  he  say  or  do  anything  in 
contempt  of  the  court." 

In  England,  forensic  eloquence  was  almost  unknown  until 
the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Finch,  afterwards 
Lord  Nottingham,  was  called  in  his  day  the  "  English  Cicero," 
and  the  English  Roscius,  but  the  speeches  of  his  which  have 
come  down  to  us  do  not  justify  these  epithets.  The  State 
Trials,  that  voluminous  and  interesting  repository  of  cases, 
may  be  searched  in  vain  for  the  higher  efforts  of  forensic 
oratory.  Immense  learning,  and  research,  a  remarkable 
familiarity  with  precedents,  and  sound  and  logical  argu- 
ments are  found,  however. 

Eloquence  has  always  been  comparatively  rare  among  the 
advocates  of  England,  but  there  are  causes  to  account  for 
this.  One  reason  is  the  technicality  which  formerly  per- 
vaded every  branch  of  English  law.  Special  pleading  seems 
to  have  the  effect  of  cramping  and  confining  the  intellect. 

Owing  to  its  enormous  and  unwieldy  mass,  the  English 
law  is  unfavourable  to  the  cultivation  of  oratory.  "This 
tends  to  suffocate  the  fire  of  genius,  and  deadens  the  imagi- 
nation which  shrinks  back  in  affright  from  the  aspect  of  the 
thousand  volumes  in  which  are  enshrined  the  mysteries  of 
our  jurisprudence."  It  is  said  that  in  six  hundred  volumes 
of  law  reports  there  are  not  less  than  two  hundred  and  forty 
thousand  points.  The  immense  number  of  law  books,  it 
must  be  remembered,  continues  yearly  to  increase  both  in 
England  and  in  this  country.  Each  session  of  parliament, 
there,  or  of  the  legislature  here,  gives  birth  to  a  bulky  volume 
of  statutes  to  swell  the  numerous  progeny  of  legislation. 
The  increase  of  law  reports  is  also  alarming. 


90  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


The  effect  of  this  system  of  laws,  then,  upon  eloquence 
must  be  very  great. 

In  ancient  times,  during  the  flourishing  periods  of  Greek 
and  Roman  eloquence,  the  laws  were  few  in  number  and 
simple  in  phraseology,  and  the  judges  were  vested  with  a 
large  discretion,  and  were  governed  to  a  large  extent  by 
equity  and  common  sense.  The  study  of  the  laws  was  not 
such  a  laborious  occupation,  requiring  the  drudgery  of  years 
to  finish  it.  The  statesmen  and  generals  of  Rome  were  nearly 
all  lawyers,  and  Cicero,  amongst  the  multiplicity  of  his  en- 
gagements, declared  that  he  would  undertake  in  a  few  days 
to  make  himself  a  complete  civilian.  And  of  course  when 
an  advocate  addresses  himself  to  the  equity  of  the  judges 
he.  has  greater  room  for  the  display  of  eloquence,  than  where 
he  must  draw  his  arguments  from  strict  laws.  In  the  former 
case  many  personal  considerations  may  be  regarded,  and 
even  favour  and  inclination,  which  it  belongs  to  the  advocate 
to  conciliate  by  his  eloquence,  may  be  disguised  under  the 
appearance  of  equity. 

The  chief  reason,  however,  of  the  absence  of  eloquence  is 
a  neglect  of  the  means  necessary  to  acquire  the  habit  of 
graceful  and  fluent  elocution.  It  is  strange  that  so  little 
pains  should  be  taken  by  advocates  to  qualify  themselves 
for  success  in  speaking.  They  seem  to  believe  that  elo- 
quence must  spring  into  being  like  Minerva  from  the  head 
of  Jove,  instantaneously,  in  full  and  perfect  panoply,  and 
that  it  requires  no  discipline  and  study  in  advance.  Or  else 
they  dread  the  infinite  labor  which  they  must  undergo,  in 
order  to  perfect  themselves  in  the  art  of  speaking. 

If  the  poet,  the  musician,  the  sculptor,  and  the  artist  all 
devote  themselves  with  untiring  assiduity  to  a  study  of  the 
principles  of  their  art,  why  should  the  advocate  imagine 
that  he  is  exempt  from  the  necessity  of  toil  ? 

In  studying  the  history  of  modern  parliamentary  elo- 
quence there  is  little  to  interest  us  until  we  come  to  the 
time  of  Lord  Chatham,  if  we  except  the  traditionary  accounts 
of  the  wonderful  oratorical  ability  of  Lord  Bolingbroke.  Of 
course  we  find  some  sudden  bursts  of  genuine  eloquence 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  9 1 


in  the  speeches  of  Pym,  Eliot,  Vane,  and  other  statesmen  of 
the  English  Commonwealth  under  Cromwell,  yet  we  hear  not 
the  highest  notes  until  Chatham  arises  and  sways  the  British 
senate  by  the  spell  of  his  magnificent  oratory.  The  author 
will  now  proceed  to  contemplate  some  of  the  most  celebrated 
orators  and  statesmen,  beginning  with  Lord  Bolingbroke. 

Bolingbroke. — Henry  St.  John,  Lord  Viscount  Boling- 
broke, was  born  in  October,  1678,  at  Battersea  in  Surrey,  at 
a  seat  that  had  been  in  the  possession  of  his  ancestors  for 
ages  before.  He  was  educated  at  Eton  and  Oxford,  and 
there  laid  the  foundation  of  his  classical  education  which  he 
afterward  completed.  He  was  more  extensively  acquainted 
with  Latin  than  Greek  literature. 

St.  John's 'handsome  person,  and  a  face  in  which  dignity 
was  happily  blended  with  sweetness,  his  commanding 
presence,  his  fascinating  address,  his  vivacity,  his  wit,  his  ex- 
traordinary memory,  his  subtlety  in  thinking  and  reasoning, 
and  oratorical  powers  of  the  very  highest  order,  contributed 
to  his  phenomenal  success  as  a  parliamentary  orator. 

Very  few  fragments  of  his  speeches  have  come  down  to 
us,  but  from  criticisms  of  those  who  heard  him  speak,  and 
from  his  published  writings,  they  must  have  been  brilliant, 
sarcastic,  and  extremely  effective,  and  Lord  Chatham  said 
that  the  loss  of  his  speeches  was  to  be  more  greatly  deplored 
than  the  lost  books  of  Livy. 

His  application  to  business  was  prodigious,  and  he  would 
sometimes  plod  for  whole  days  and  nights  in  succession,  like 
the  lowest  clerk  in  an  office. 

Bolingbroke  died  on  the  I2th  day  of  December,  1751. 

The  following  testimony  of  Lord  Brougham  to  his  oratori- 
cal powers  is  convincing : 

"  Few  men,  whose  public  life  was  so  short,  have  rilled  a 
greater  space  in  the  eyes  of  the  world  during  his  own  times 
than  Lord  Bolingbroke,  or  left  behind  them  a  more  brilliant 
reputation.  Not  more  than  fifteen  years  elapsed  between 
his  first  coming  into  parliament  and  his  attainder ;  during  not 
more  than  ten  of  these  years  was  he  brought  before  the 
public  in  the  course  of  its  proceedings  ;  and  yet,  as  a  states- 


92  HISTORY   OF  ORATORY. 


man  and  an  orator,  his  name  ranks  among  the  most  famous 
in  our  history,  independent  of  the  brilliant  literary  reputa- 
tion which  places  him  among  the  best  classics  of  our 
Augustan  age.  Much  of  his  rhetorical  fame  may  certainly 
be  ascribed  to  the  merit  of  his  written  works ;  but  had  he 
never  composed  a  page,  he  would  still  have  come  down  to 
our  times  as  one  of  the  most  able  and  eloquent  men  of 
whom  this  country  could  boast. 

"  They  who  look  down  upon  even  the  purely  ethical  and 
purely  metaphysical  writings  of  Bolingbroke,  would  do  well 
to  show  us  any  statesman  or  any  orator,  except  perhaps 
Cicero,  who  in  any  age  has  brought  to  the  senate  the  same 
resources  of  moral  science,  which  even  the  failures  of  Boling- 
broke, as  a  professed  author  on  these  subjects,  prove  him  to 
have  possessed ;  and  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  remark  how 
vast  an  accession  of  force  to  his  eloquence,  whether  in  its 
argumentative,  its  pathetic,  or  its  declamatory  department, 
would  have  been  gained  by  even  far  less  skill,  capacity,  or 
practice,  than  he  had  as  a  moral  philosopher,  a  student  of 
the  nature  of  the  mind,  or  an  expert  logician. 

"Accordingly,  when  all  these  accomplishments,  joined  to 
his  strong  natural  sagacity,  his  penetrating  acuteness,  his  ex- 
traordinary quickness  of  apprehension,  a  clearness  of 
understanding,  against  which  sophistry  set  itself  up  in 
vain,  as  the  difficulties  of  the  most  complicated  subjects  in 
vain  opposed  his  industry  and  his  courage,  with  a  fancy  rich, 
lively,  various  beyond  that  of  most  me«n,  a  wit  exuberant 
and  sparkling,  a  vehemence  of  passion  belonging  to  his 
whole  temperament,  even  to  his  physical  powers,  came  to  be 
displayed  before  the  assembly  which  he  was  to  address,  and 
when  the  mighty  '  armentaria  cceli'  were  found  under  the 
command  of  one  whose  rich  endowments  of  mind  and 
whose  ample  stores  of  acquired  virtue  resided  in  a  person 
of  singularly  animated  countenance,  at  once  beautiful  and 
expressive,  and  made  themselves  heard  in  the  strains  of  an 
unrivalled  voice,  it  is  easy  to  comprehend  how  vast,  how 
irresistible  must  have  been  their  impression. 

"  But  all  agree  in  describing  the  external  qualities  of  his 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  ENGLAND.  93 


oratory  as  perfect.  A  symmetrical,  beautiful,  and  animated 
countenance,  a  noble  and  dignified  person,  a  sonorous  and 
flexible  voice,  action  graceful  and  correct,  though  unstudied, 
gave  an  inexpressible  charm  to  those  who  witnessed  his 
extraordinary  displays  as  spectators  or  critics,  and  armed 
his  eloquence  with  resistless  effect  over  those  whom  it  was 
intended  to  sway,  or  persuade,  or  control.  If  the  concurring 
accounts  of  witnesses,  and  the  testimony  to  his  merits  borne 
by  his  writings,  may  be  trusted,  he  must  be  pronounced  to 
stand,  upon  the  whole,  at  the  head  of  modern  orators. 
There  may  have  been  more  measure  and  matured  power 
in  Pitt,  more  fire  in  the  occasional  bursts  of  Chatham,  more 
unbridled  vehemence,  more  intent  reasoning  in  Fox,  more 
deep-toned  declamation  in  passages  of  Sheridan,  more 
learned  imagery  in  Burke,  more  wit  and  humour  in  Canning, 
but,  as  a  whole,  and  taking  in  all  rhetorical  gifts,  and  all  the 
orator's  accomplishments,  no  one,  perhaps  hardly  the  union 
of  several  of  them,  can  match  what  we  are  taught  by 
tradition  to  admire  in  Bolingbroke's  spoken  eloquence,  and 
what  the  study  of  his  works  makes  us  easily  believe  to  be 
true." 

St.  John  devoted  much  time  to  the  study  of  metaphysics 
—a  study  which  he  thought  absolutely  essential  to  the  man 
who  seeks  to  make  the  minds  of  others  acknowledge  his  own 
mind's  dominion. 

He  recognised  the  fact  that  the  law  is  a  science,  worthy 
of  the  most  assiduous  study,  and  the  standard  of  excellence 
which  he  set  for  the  legal  profession  was  high,  as  will  be 
seen  from  the  following  passage  from  his  dissertation  on  the 
Study  of  History :  "  There  have  been  lawyers  that  were 
orators,  philosophers,  historians:  there  have  been  Bacons 
and  Clarendons,  my  lord.  There  will  be  none  such  any 
more,  till,  in  some  better  age,  true  ambition,  or  the  love  of 
fame,  prevails  over  avarice,  and  till  men  find  leisure  and  en- 
couragement to  prepare  themselves  for  the  exercise  of  this 
profession,  by  climbing  up  to  the  vantage  ground,  so  my 
Lord  Bacon  calls  it,  of  science ;  instead  of  grovelling  all 
their  lives  below,  in  a  mean,  but  gainful  application  to  all 


94  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


the  little  arts  of  chicane.  Till  this  happen,  the  profession  of 
the  law  will  scarce  deserve  to  be  ranked  among  the  learned 
professions ;  and  whenever  it  happens,  one  of  the  vantage 
grounds  to  which  men  must  climb,  is  metaphysical,  and  the 
other  historical,  knowledge.  They  must  pry  into  the  secret 
recesses  of  the  human  heart,  and  become  well  acquainted 
with  the  whole  moral  world,  that  they  may  discover  the 
abstract  reason  of  all  laws ;  and  they  must  trace  the  laws 
of  particular  states,  especially  of  their  own,  from  the  first 
rough  sketches  to  the  more  perfect  draughts,  from  the  first 
causes  or  occasions  that  produced  them,  through  all  the 
effects,  good  and  bad,  that  they  produced." 

St.  John  was  well  read  in  both  ancient  and  modern  history. 
He  says  upon  the  study  of  history : 

"  Man  is  the  subject  of  every  history  ;  and  to  know  him 
well  we  must  see  him  and  consider  him,  as  history  alone  can 
present  him  to  us,  in  every  age,  in  every  country,  in  every 
state,  in  life,  and  in  death.  History,  therefore,  of  all  kinds, 
of  civilised  and  uncivilised,  of  ancient  and  modern  nations, 
in  short,  all  history  that  descends  to  a  sufficient  detail  of 
human  actions  and  characters,  is  useful  to  bring  us  acquainted 
with  our  species,  nay,  with  ourselves.  To  teach  and  to  in- 
culcate the  general  principles  of  virtue,  and  the  general  rules 
of  wisdom  and  good  policy,  which  result  from  such  details 
of  actions  and  characters,  comes  for  the  most  part,  and  always 
should  come,  expressly  and  directly  into  the  design  of  those 
who  are  capable  of  giving  such  details  ;  and  therefore  whilst 
they  narrate  as  historians  they  hint  often  as  philosophers, 
they  put  into  our  hands  as  it  were,  on  every  proper  occasion, 
the  end  of  a  clue  that  serves  to  remind  us  of  searching,  and 
to  guide  in  the  search  of  that  truth  which  the  example  before 
us  either  establishes  or  illustrates.  I  f  a  writer  neglects  this  part, 
we  are  able,  however,  to  supply  his  neglect  by  our  attention  and 
industry,  and  when  he  gives  us  a  good  history  of  Peruvians  or 
Mexicans,  of  Chinese  or  Tartars,  of  Muscovites  or  Negroes,  we 
may  blame  him,  but  we  must  blame  ourselves  much  more  if  we 
do  not  make.it  a  good  lesson  of  philosophy.  This  being  the 
general  use  of  history,  it  is  not  to  be  neglected.  Every  one 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN-  ENGLAND.  95 


may  make  it  who  is  able  to  read  and  to  reflect  on  what  he 
reads,  and  every  one  who  makes  it  will  find  in  his  degree 
the  benefit  that  arises  from  an  early  acquaintance  contracted 
in  this  manner  with  mankind.  We  are  not  only  passengers 
and  sojourners  in  this  world,  but  we  are  absolute  strangers 
at  the  first  steps  we  make  in  it.  Our  guides  are  often 
ignorant,  often  unfaithful."  By  this  map  of  the  country 
which  history  spreads  before  us,  we  may  learn,  if  we  please, 
to  guide  ourselves.  In  our  journey  through  it  we  are  beset 
on  every  side.  We  are  besieged  sometimes  even  in  our 
strongest  holds.  Terrors  and  temptations,  conducted  by 
the  passions  of  other  men,  assault  us,  and  our  own  passions, 
which  correspond  with  these,  betray  us.  History  is  a  col- 
lection of  the  journals  of  those  who  have  travelled  through 
the  same  country  and  been  exposed  to  the  same  accidents, 
and  their  good  and  their  ill  success  are  equally  instructive. 
In  this  pursuit  of  knowledge  an  immense  field  is  spread  to 
us  :  general  histories,  sacred  and  profane  ;  the  histories  of 
particular  countries,  particular  events,  particular  orders,  par- 
ticular men  ;  memorials,  anecdotes,  travels.  But  we  must 
not  ramble  in  this  field  without  discernment  or  choice,  nor 
even  with  these  must  we  ramble  too  long.  . '  .  . 

"  As  soon  as  we  have  taken  this  general  view  of  mankind, 
and  of  the  course  of  human  affairs  in  different  ages  and 
different  parts  of  the  world,  we  ought  to  apply,  and,  the 
shortness  of  human  life  considered,  to  confine  ourselves 
almost  entirely  in  our  study  of  history  to  such  histories  as 
have  an  immediate  relation  to  our  professions,  or  to  our  rank 
and  situation  in  the  society  to  which  we  belong.  Let  me 
instance  the  profession  of  divinity  as  the  noblest  and  the 
most  important." 

The  foregoing  extract  is  worthy  of  the  closest  study. 

Sir  Edward  Creasy,  a  recent  English  writer,  says  of  St. 
John  :  "  I  unhesitatingly  place  him.  at  the  head  of  all  the 
prose  writers  in  our  language." 

The  beauty  and  propriety  of  his  images  and  illustrations 
are  never  introduced  for  mere  purposes  of  adornment,  but 
to  support  the  arguments  they  adorn.  In  a  letter  to  Wind- 


96  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 

ham  he  says  :  "  The  ocean  which  environs  us  is  an  emblem 
of  our  government,  and  the  pilot  and  the  minister  are  in 
similar  circumstances.  It  seldom  happens  that  either  of 
them  can  steer  a  direct  course,  and  they  both  arrive  at  their 
part  by  means  which  frequently  seem  to  carry  them  from 
it."  In  "The  Spirit  of  the  Times  "  he  truthfully  and  beauti- 
fully says  :  "  Eloquence  must  flow  like  a  stream  that  is  fed 
by  an  abundant  stream,  and  not  spout  forth  a  little  frothy 
water  on  some  gaudy  day,  and  remain  dry  all  the  rest  of  the 
year." 

The  literary  works  of  Bolingbroke  undoubtedly  resemble 
spoken  eloquence  far  more  than  those  of  any  man  that  ever 
wrote. 

He  disliked,  exceedingly,  the  mechanical  drudgery  of 
writing,  and  dictated  many  of  his  literary  productions  to  an 
amanuensis. 

Chatham. — Few  great  English  parliamentary  orators  who 
preceded  Lord  Chatham  will  be  remembered  by  posterity. 
In  his  external  appearance  no  person  was  ever  more  beauti- 
fully gifted  by  nature  for  an  orator  than  this  extraordinary 
man. 

Grace  and  dignity  were  wonderfully  combined  in  his  look 
and  gesture,  but  dignity  presided  ;  "  the  terrors  of  his  beak, 
the  lightning  of  his  eye,"  were  insufferable.  His  voice  was 
marvellously  clear  and  full,  and  his  lowest  whisper  was 
audible  in  every  part  of  the  house.  His  middle  tones  were 
sweet,  rich,  and  beautifully  varied.  When  he  elevated  his 
voice  the  house  was  completely  filled  with  the  sound,  and 
the  effect  is  said  to  have  been  awful,  except  when  he  wished 
to  cheer  or  animate ;  and  then  he  had  "  spirit-stirring  "  notes, 
which  could  not  be  resisted.  He  often  suddenly  rose  from 
a  very  low  to  a  very  high  key,  but  the  effort  was  not 
apparent.  His  vocabulary  was  full  and  varied,  but  his 
diction  was  simple. 

He  is  said  to  have  read  Bailey's  Dictionary  through  twice, 
in  order  to  increase  his  stock  of  words. 

Unfortunately  very  few  of  Lord  Chatham's  speeches  have 
come  down  to  us,  as  he  delivered  them.  This  was  owing  to 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  97 


the  imperfect  state  of  parliamentary  reporting  in  his  day. 
From  the  time  he  entered  the  House  of  Commons  until  he 
left  it,  the  privileges  of  parliament  almost  wholly  precluded 
the  possibility  of  full  and  regular  accounts  of  debates  being 
communicated  to  the  public.  They  were  given  at  one  time 
under  feigned  names,  as  if  held  in  the  senate  of  Rome  by 
the  ancient  orators  and  statesmen ;  at  another  they  were 
•conveyed  by  the  initials  only  of  the  names  of  the  real 
speakers.  Later,  when  these  disguises  wrere  no  longer  used, 
speeches  were  composed  by  reporters  who  had  not  been 
present  at  the  debates,  but  were  only  familiar  with  a  few 
heads  of  each  speaker's  topics  from  some  one  who  had 
heard  him.  The  fullest  accounts  given  of  the  speeches 
•delivered  at  this  period  are  mere  meagre  outlines  of  the 
subjects  touched  upon,  and  do  not  even  present  an  approxi- 
mation to  the  execution  of  the  orators.  Many  of  Lord 
Chatham's  earlier  speeches  in  the  House  of  Commons,  as 
transmitted  to  us,  were  avowedly  composed  by  Dr.  John- 
son, and  it  is  said  that  his  "  measured  style,  formal  periods, 
balanced  antitheses,  and  total  want  of  pure,  racy  English, 
betray  their  author  at  every  line,  while  each  debate  is  made 
^o  speak  exactly  in  the  same  manner."  The  only  speech 
which  there  is  reason  to  believe  was  revised  by  Lord  Chat- 
ham himself,  and  the  one  most  celebrated  of  all,  was  the 
one  upon  the  employment  of  the  Indians  in  the  American 
war. 

Of  Chatham's  patriotism  there  can  be  no  question.  He 
was  far  superior  to  the  paltry  objects  of  a  grovelling  ambi- 
tion. When  party  ti^s  or  interests  interfered  with  his  duty 
to  his  country,  they  were  set  aside.  He  believed  that  the 
highest  duty  of  man  was  to  further  the  interest  of  the 
human  species. 

Lord  Chatham,  when  a  young  member,  having  expressed 
himself  in  the  house  with  great  energy,  in  opposition  to  one 
of  the  measures  then  in  agitation,  his  speech  produced  an 
answer  from  Mr.  Walpole,  who  in  the  course  of  it  charged 
him,  among  other  things,  with  youthful  inexperience  and 
theatrical  enunciation.  Mr.  Walpole  said  : 


98  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


"  Sir :  I  was  unwilling  to  interrupt  the  course  of  this  de- 
bate, while  it  was  carried  on  with  calmness  and  decency,  by 
men  who  do  not  suffer  the  ardour  of  opposition  to  cloud 
their  reason,  or  transport  them  to  such  expressions  as  the 
dignity  of  this  assembly  does  not  admit.  I  have  hitherto 
deferred  to  answer  the  gentleman  who  declaimed  against 
the  bill  with  such  fluency  of  rhetoric,  and  such  vehemence  of 
gesture ;  who  charged  the  advocates  of  the  expedients  now 
proposed  with  having  no  regard  to  any  interests  but  their 
own,  and  with  making  laws  only  to  consume  paper,  and 
threatened  them  with  the  defection  of  their  adherents,  and 
the  loss  of  their  influence,  upon  this  new  discovery  of  their 
folly  and  their  ignorance.  Nor,  sir,  do  I  now  answer  him 
for  any  other  purpose  than  to  remind  him  how  little  the 
clamours  of  rage,  and  petulancy  of  invectives,  contribute  to 
the  purposes  for  which  this  assembly  is  called  together; 
how  little  the  discovery  of  truth  is  promoted,  and  the  secu- 
rity of  the  nation  established,  by  pompous  diction  and 
theatrical  emotions.  Formidable  sounds  and  furious  decla- 
mations, confident  assertions,  and  lofty  periods,  may  affect 
the  young  and  inexperienced  ;  and  perhaps  the  gentleman 
may  have  contracted  his  habits  of  oratory  by  conversing 
more  with  those  of  his  own  age,  than  with  such  as  have  had 
more  opportunities  of  acquiring  knowledge,  and  more  suc- 
cessful methods  of  communicating  their  sentiments.  If  the 
heat  of  his  temper,  sir,  would  suffer  him  to  attend  to  those 
whose  age  and  long  acquaintance  with  business  give  them 
an  indisputable  right  to  deference  and  superiority,  he  would 
learn,  in  time,  to  reason  rather  than  declaim  ;  to  prefer  just- 
ness of  argument,  and  an  accurate  knowledge  of  facts,  to 
sounding  epithets,  and  splendid  superlatives,  which  may  dis- 
turb the  imagination  for  a  moment,  but  leave  no  lasting  im- 
pression on  the  mind.  He  will  learn,  sir,  that  to  accuse  and 
prove  are  very  different,  and  that  reproaches,  unsupported 
by  evidence,  affect  only  the  character  of  him  that  utters 
them.  Excursions  of  fancy  and  flights  of  oratory  are  in- 
deed pardonable  in  young  men,  but  in  no  other;  and  it 
would  surely  contribute  more,  even  to  the  purpose  for  which 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  ENGLAND.  99 


some  gentlemen  appear  to  speak  (that  of  depreciating  the 
conduct  of  the  administration),  to  prove  the  inconvenience 
and  injustice  of  this  bill,  than  barely  to  assert  them,  with 
whatever  magnificence  of  language,  or  appearance  of  zeal, 
honesty,  or  compassion." 

As  soon  as  Mr.  Walpole  sat  down,  Mr.  Pitt  got  up  and 
replied  to  his  ill-timed  reflections  as  follows : 

"  Sir  :  The  atrocious  crime  of  being  a  young  man,  which 
the  honourable  gentleman  has,  with  such  spirit  and  decency, 
charged  upon  me,  I  shall  neither  attempt  to  palliate  nor 
deny ;  but  content  myself  with  wishing — that  I  may  be  one 
of  those  whose  follies  cease  with  their  youth ;  and  not  of 
that  number  who  are  ignorant  in  spite  of  experience. 

"  Whether  youth  can  be  imputed  to  any  man  as  a  re- 
proach, I  will  not,  sir,  assume  the  province  of  determining — 
but  surely  age  may  become  justly  contemptible — if  the  op- 
portunities which  it  brings  have  passed  away  without  im- 
provement, and  vice  appears  to  prevail  when  the  passions 
have  subsided.  The  wretch  who,  after  having  seen  the  conse- 
quences of  a  thousand  errors,  continues  still  to  blunder,  and 
whose  age  has  only  added  obstinacy  to  stupidity,  is  surely 
the  object  of  either  abhorrence  or  contempt ;  and  deserves 
not  that  his  grey  hairs  should  secure  him  from  insult.  Much 
more,  sir,  is  he  to  be  abhorred — who,  as  he  has  advanced  in 
age,  has  receded  from  virtue,  and  becomes  more  wicked  with 
less  temptation :  who  prostitutes  himself  for  money  which 
he  cannot  enjoy,  and  spends  the  remains  of  his  life  in  the 
ruin  of  his  country. 

"  But  youth,  sir,  is  not  my  only  crime.  I  have  been  ac- 
cused of  acting  a  theatrical  part. 

"  A  theatrical  part  may  either  imply — some  peculiarities 
of  gesture, — or  a  dissimulation  of  my  real  sentiments,  and 
the  adoption  of  the  opinions  and  language  of  another  man. 

"  In  the  first  sense,  the  charge  is  too  trifling  to  be  con- 
futed ;  and  deserves  only  to  be  mentioned  that  it  may  be 
despised.  I  am  at  liberty,  like  every  other  man,  to  use  my 
own  language ;  and  though  I  may,  perhaps,  have  some  am- 
bition,— yet  to  please  this  gentleman,  I  shall  not  lay  myself 


100  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


under  any  restraint,  nor  very  solicitously  copy  his  dictum 
or  his  mien,  however  matured  by  age  or  modelled  by  expe- 
rience. If  any  man  shall,  by  charging  me  with  theatrical 
behaviour,  imply  that  I  utter  any  sentiments  but  my  own,  I 
shall  treat  him  as  a  calumniator  and  a  villain  ;  nor  shall  any 
protection  shelter  him  from  the  treatment  he  deserves.  I 
shall,  on  such  an  occasion,  without  scruple  trample  upon  all 
those  forms  with  which  wealth  and  dignity  intrench  them- 
selves ;  nor  shall  anything  but  age  restrain  my  resentment ; 
age,  which  always  brings  one  privilege,  that  of  being  inso- 
lent and  supercilious  without  punishment.  But  with  regard, 
sir,  to  those  whom  I  have  offended,  I  am  of  'opinion,  that  if 
I  had  acted  a  borrowed  part  I  should  have  avoided  their 
censure;  the  heat  that  offended  them  is  the  ardour  of  con- 
viction, and  that  zeal  for  the  service  of  my  country  which 
neither  hope  nor  fear  shall  influence  me  to  suppress.  I  will 
not  sit  unconcerned  while  my  liberty  is  invaded,  nor  look 
in  silence  upon  public  robbery.  I  will  exert  my  endeavours, 
at  whatever  hazard,  to  repel  the  aggressor,  and  drag  the 
thief  to  justice, — whoever  may  protect  them  in  their  vil- 
lainy, and  whoever  may  partake  of  their  plunder." 

Brougham  said  of  the  administration  of  Lord  Chatham : 
"As  soon  as  Mr.  Pitt  took  the  helm,  the  steadiness  of 
the  hand  that  held  it  was  instantly  felt  in  every  motion  of 
the  vessel.  There  was  no  more  of  wavering  counsels, 
of  torpid  inaction,  of  listless  expectancy,  of  abject  despond- 
ency. His  firmness  gave  confidence,  his  spirit  roused  cour- 
age, his  vigilance  secured  exertion,  in  every  department 
under  his  sway.  Each  man,  from  the  first  Lord  of  the  Ad- 
miralty down  to  the  most  humble  clerk  in  the  Victualling 
Office — each  soldier,  from  the  Commander-in-chief  to  the 
most  obscure  contractor  or  commissary — now  felt  assured 
that  he  was  acting  or  was  indolent  under  the  eye  of  one 
who  knew  his  duties  and  his  means  as  well  as  his  own,  and 
who  would  very  certainly  make  all  defaulters,  whether 
through  misfeasance  or  through  nonfeasance,  accountable 
for  whatever  detriment  the  commonwealth  might  sustain  at 
their  hands. 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  IOI 


"  Over  his  immediate  coadjutors  his  influence  swiftly 
obtained  an  ascendant  which  it  ever  after  retained  unin- 
terrupted. Upon  his  first  proposition  for  changing  the  con- 
duct of  the  war  he  stood  single  among  his  colleagues,  and 
tendered  his  resignation  should  they  persist  in  their  dissent ; 
they  at  once  succumbed,  and  from  that  hour  ceased  to  have 
an  opinion  of  their  own  upon  any  branch  of  the  public 
affairs.  Nay,  so  absolutely  was  he  determined  to  have  the 
control  of  those  measures,  of  which  he  knew  the  responsi- 
bility rested  upon  him  alone,  that  he  insisted  upon  the  first 
Lord  of  the  Admiralty  not  having  the  correspondence  of 
his  own  department ;  and  no  less  eminent  a  naval  character 
than  Lord  Anson,  as  well  as  his  junior  Lords,  was  obliged 
to  sign  the  naval  orders  issued  by  Mr.  Pitt  while  the  writing 
was  covered  over  from  their  eyes  !  " 

From  the  speech  of  Lord  Chatham  on  the  American  war, 
which  has  been  already  mentioned,  the  following  extract 
richly  deserves  a  perusal : 

"  I  cannot,  my  lords,  I  will  not,  join  in  congratulation  on 
misfortune  and  disgrace.  This,  my  lords,  is  a  perilous  and 
tremendous  moment.  It  is  not  a  time  for  adulation.  The 
smoothness  of  flattery  cannot  save  us  in  this  rugged  and 
awful  crisis.  It  is  now  necessary  to  instruct  the  throne  in 
the  language  of  truth.  We  must,  if  possible,  dispel  the 
illusion  and  darkness  which  envelop  it,  and  display,  in  its 
full  danger  and  genuine  colours,  the  ruin  which  is  brought  to 
our  doors, 

"  Can  ministers  still  presume  to  expect  support  in  their 
infatuation  ?  Can  parliament  be  so  dead  to  its  dignity  and 
duty,  as  to  give  their  support  to  measures  thus  obtruded 
and  forced  upon  them  ?  Measures,  my  lords,  which  have 
reduced  this  late  flourishing  empire  to  ruin  and  contempt ! 
But  yesterday,  and  England  might  have  stood  against  the 
world  ;  now,  none  so  poor  as  to  do  her  reverence. 

'  The  people  whom  we  at  first  despised  as  rebels,  but 
whom  we  now  acknowledge  as  enemies,  are  abetted  against 
us  ;  supplied  with  every  military  store,  their  interest  con- 
sulted, and  their  ambassadors  entertained  by  our  inveterate 


102  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


enemy  ! — and  ministers  do  not,  and  dare  not,  interpose  with 
dignity  or  effect.  The  desperate  state  of  our  army  abroad 
is  in  part  known.  No  man  more  highly  esteems  and  honours 
the  English  troops  than  I  do  ;  I  know  their  virtues  and  their 
valour ;  I  know  they  can  achieve  anything  but  impossibili- 
ties ;  and  I  know  that  the  conquest  of  English  America  is 
an  impossibility. 

1  You  cannot,  my  lords,  you  cannot  conquer  America. 
What  is  your  present  situation  there  ?  We  do  not  know 
the  worst ;  but  we  know  that  in  three  campaigns  we  have 
done  nothing,  and  suffered  much.  You  may  swell  every 
expense,  accumulate  every  assistance,  and  extend  your 
traffic  to  the  shambles  of  every  German  despot :  your 
attempts  will  be  forever  vain  and  impotent — doubly  so, 
indeed,  from  this  mercenary  aid  on  which  you  rely  ;  for  it 
irritates,  to  an  incurable  resentment,  the  minds  of  your 
adversaries,  to  overrun  them  with  the  mercenary  sons  of 
rapine  and  plunder,  devoting  them  and  their  possessions  to 
the  rapacity  of  hireling  cruelty.  If  I  were  an  American,  as 
I  am  an  Englishman,  while  a  foreign  troop  was  landed  in 
my  country,  I  never  would  lay  down  my  arms — never,  never, 
never  / 

"  But,  my  lords,  who  is  the  man  that,  in  addition  to  the 
disgrace  and  mischiefs  of  the  war,  has  dared  to  authorise 
and  associate  to  our  arms  the  tomahawk  and  scalping-knife 
of  the  savage  ? — to  call  into  civilised  alliance  the  wild  and 
inhuman  inhabitants  of  the  woods  ? — to  delegate  to  the 
merciless  Indian  the  defence  of  disputed  rights,  and  to  wage 
the  horrors  of  his  barbarous  war  against  our  brethren  ?  My 
lords,  these  enormities  cry  aloud  for  redress  and  punishment. 

"  But,  my  lords,  this  barbarous  measure  has  been  de- 
fended, not  only  on  the  principles  of  policy  and  necessity, 
but  also  on  those  of  morality  ;  '  for  it  is  perfectly  allowable/ 
says  Lord  Suffolk,  *  to  use  all  the  means  which  God  and 
Nature  have  put  into  our  hands.'  I  am  astonished,  I  am 
shocked,  to  hear  such  principles  confessed  ;  to  hear  them 
avowed  in  this  house,  or  in  this  country  ! 

"  My  lords,  I  did  not  intend  to  encroach  so  much  upon 


ORATORY  SAT  ENGLAND.  1 03 


your  attention,  but  I  cannot  repress  my  indignation.  I  feel 
myself  impelled  to  speak.  My  lords,  we  are  called  upon  as 
members  of  this  house,  as  men,  as  Christian  men,  to  protest 
'against  such  horrible  barbarity.  'That  God  and  Nature 
have  put  into  our  hands  ! '  What  ideas  of  God  and  Nature 
that  noble  lord  may  entertain,  I  know  not ;  but  I  know  that 
such  detestable  principles  are  equally  abhorrent  to  religion 
and  humanity. 

"  What !  to  attribute  the  sacred  sanction  of  God  and 
Nature  to  the  massacres  of  the  Indian  scalping-knife  ! — to 
the  cannibal  savage,  torturing,  murdering,  devouring,  drink- 
ing the  blood  of  his  mangled  victims !  Such  notions  shock 
every  precept  of -morality,' every  feeling  of  humanity,  every 
sentiment  of  honour.  These  abominable  principles,  and 
this  more  abominable  avowal  of  them,  demand  the  most 
decisive  indignation. 

"  I  call  upon  that  right  reverend,  and  this  most  learned 
bench,  to  vindicate  the  religion  of  their  God,  to  support  the 
justice  of  their  country.  I  call  upon  the  bishops  to  inter- 
pose the  unsullied  sanctity  of  their  lawn  ;  upon  the  judges 
to  interpose  the  purity  of  their  ermine,  to  save  us  from  this 
pollution.  I  call  upon  the  honour  of  your  lordships  to 
reverence  the  dignity  of  your  ancestors,  and  maintain  your 
own.  I  call  upon  the  spirit  and  humanity  of  my  country  to 
vindicate  the  national  character." 

One  of  the  finest  passages  from  the  speeches  of  Lord 
Chatham  is  his  allusion  to  the  legal  maxim,  that  every  man's 
house  is  his  castle  : 

"  The  poorest  man  may  in  his  cottage  bid  defiance  to  all 
the  forces  of  the  crown.  It  may  be  frail — its  roof  may  shake 
—the  wind  may  blow  through  it — the  storm  may  enter — 
the  rain  may  enter — but  the  king  of  England  cannot  enter ! 
— all  his  force  dares  not  cross  the  threshold  of  the  ruined 
tenement !  " 

Another  extract  from  his  "  Speech  on  the  Address  to  the 
Throne,"  in  1770,  shows  his  love  for  the  ancient  political 
institutions  of  his  country.  Speaking  of  the  Charter  of  Run- 
nymede,  he  said : 


104  HISTORY   OF  ORATORY. 


11  My  lords,  I  have  better  hopes  of  the  constitution,  and  a 
firmer  confidence  in  the  wisdom  and  constitutional  authority 
of  this  house.  It  is  to  your  ancestors,  my  lords,  it  is  to 
the  English  barons,  that  we  are  indebted  for  the  laws  and 
constitution  we  possess.  Their  virtues  were  rude  and  un- 
cultivated, but  they  were  great  and  sincere.  Their  under- 
standings were  as  little  polished  as  their  manners,  but  they 
had  hearts  to  distinguish  right  from  wrong ;  they  had  heads 
to  distinguish  truth  from  falsehood  ;  they  understood  the 
rights  of  humanity,  and  they  had  spirit  to  maintain  them. 

"  My  lords,  I  think  that  history  has  not  done  justice  to- 
their  conduct.  When  they  obtained  from  their  sovereign 
that  great  acknowledgment  of  national  rights  contained  in 
Magna  Charta,  they  did  not  confine  it  to  themselves  alone, 
but  delivered  it  as  a  common  blessing  to  the  whole  people. 
They  did  not  say,  these  are  the  rights  of  the  great  barons, 
or  these  are  the  rights  of  the  great  prelates : — No,  my  lords  ; 
they  said,  in  the  simple  Latin  of  the  times,  nullus  liber  homo, 
and  provided  as  carefully  for  the  meanest  subject  as  for  the 
greatest.  These  are  uncouth  words,  and  sound  but  poorly 
in  the  ears  of  scholars ;  neither  are  they  addressed  to  the 
criticism  of  scholars,  but  to  the  hearts  of  free  men.  These 
three  words,  nullus  liber  homo,  have  a  meaning  which  inter- 
ests us  all :  they  deserve  to  be  remembered — they  deserve 
to  be  inculcated  in  our  minds — they  are  worth  all  the  classics. 
Let  us  not,  then,  degenerate  from  the  glorious  example  of 
our  ancestors.  Those  iron  barons  (for  so  I  may  call  them 
when  compared  with  the  silken  barons  of  modern  days) 
were  the  guardians  of  the  people  ;  yet  their  virtues,  my 
lords,  were  never  engaged  in  a  question  of  such  importance 
as  the  present.  A  breach  has  been  made  in  the  constitution 
— the  battlements  are  dismantled — the  citadel  is  open  to 
the  first  invader — the  walls  totter — the  constitution  is  not 
tenable.  What  remains,  then,  but  for  us  to  stand  foremost 
in  the  breach,  to  repair  it,  or  perish  in  it  ?  " 

Lord  Chatham's  remark  on  confidence,  when  it  was  asked 
by  the  ministry  of  1766,  for  whom  he  had  "  some  forebear- 
ance  rather  than  any  great  respect,"  is  worthy  of  repetition. 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  ENGLAND.  105 


He  said  their  characters  were  fair  enough,  and  he  was 
always  glad  to  see  such  persons  engaged  in  the  public  ser- 
vice ;  but,  turning  to  them  with  a  smile,  very  courteous, 
but  not  very  respectful,  he  said :  "  Confide  in  you  ?  Oh, 
no — you  must  pardon  me,  gentlemen — youth  is  the  season 
of  credulity — confidence  is  a  plant  of  slow  growth  in  an  aged 
bosom !  " 

Many,  splendid  tributes  have  been  paid  to  the  oratorical 
talents  of  Lord  Chatham,  and  from  among  them  the  author 
selects  the  following  from  Lord  Brougham  and  others. 
Lord  Brougham  said  of  his  eloquence  :  "  All  accounts,  how- 
ever, .concur  in  representing  those  effects  to  have  been  pro- 
digious. The  spirit  and  vehemence  which  animated  its 
greater  passages — their  perfect  application  to  the  subject- 
matter  of  debate — the  appositeness  of  his  invective  to  the 
individual  assailed — the  boldness  of  the  feats  which  he  ven- 
tured upon — the  grandeur  of  the  ideas  which  he  unfolded — 
the  heart-stirring  nature  of  his  appeals, — are  all  confessed 
by  the  united  testimony  of  his  contemporaries;  and  the 
fragments  which  remain  bear  out  to  a  considerable  extent 
such  representations  ;  nor  are  we  likely  to  be  misled  by 
those  fragments,  for  the  more  striking  portions  were  cer- 
tainly the  ones  least  likely  to  be  either  forgotten  or  fabri- 
cated. To  these  mighty  attractions  was  added  the  imposing, 
the  animating,  the  commanding  power  of  a  countenance 
singularly  expressive ;  an  eye  so  piercing  that  hardly  any 
one  could  stand  its  glare  ;  and  a  manner  altogether  singu- 
larly striking,  original,  and  characteristic ;  notwithstanding 
a  peculiarly  defective  and  even  awkward  action.  Latterly, 
indeed,  his  infirmities  precluded  all  action  ;  and  he  is  de- 
scribed as  standing  in  the  House  of  Lords  leaning  upon  his 
crutch,  and  speaking  for  ten  minutes  together  in  an  under- 
tone of  voice  scarcely  audible,  but  raising  his  notes  to  their 
full  pitch  when  he  broke  out  into  one  of  his  grand  bursts  of 
invective  or  exclamation.  But  in  his  earlier  time,  his  whole 
manner  is  represented  as  having  been,  beyond  conception, 
animated  and  imposing.  Indeed  the  things  which  he 
effected  principally  by  means  of  it,  or  at  least  which  noth- 


106  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


ing  but  a  most  striking  and  commanding  tone  could  have 
made  it  possible  to  attempt,  almost  exceed  belief." 

A  splendid  tribute  to  the  talents  of  Lord  Chatham  was 
also  paid  by  the  celebrated  Wirt : 

"Talents,  whenever  they  have  had  a  suitable  theatre, 
have  never  failed  to  emerge  from  obscurity,  and  assume 
their  proper  rank  in  the  estimation  of  the  world.  The 
jealous  pride  of  power  may  attempt  to  repress  and  crush 
them ;  the  base  and  malignant  rancour  of  impotent  spleen 
and  envy  may  strive  to  embarrass  and  retard  their  flight : 
but  these  efforts,  so  far  from  achieving  their  ignoble  pur- 
pose, so  far  from  producing  a  discernible  obliquity  in  the 
ascent  of  genuine  and  vigorous  talents,  will  serve  only  to 
increase  their  momentum,  and  mark  their  transit  with  an 
additional  gleam  of  glory. 

"  When  the  great  Earl  of  Chatham  first  made  his  appear- 
ance in  the  House  of  Commons,  and  began  to  astonish  and 
transport  the  British  parliament  and  the  British  nation,  by 
the  boldness,  the  force,  and  range  of  his  thoughts,  and  the 
celestial  fire,  and  pathos  of  his  eloquence,  it  is  well  known 
that  the  minister,  Walpole,  and  his  brother  Horace,  from 
motives  very  easily  understood,  exerted  all  their  wit,  all 
their  oratory,  all  their  acquirements  of  every  description, 
sustained  and  enforced  by  the  unfeeling  '  insolence  of 
office/  to  heave  a  mountain  on  his  gigantic  genius,  and 
hide  it  from  the  world. — Poor  and  powerless  attempt ! — The 
tables  were  turned.  He  rose  upon  them  in  the  might  and 
irresistible  energy  of  his  genius,  and  in  spite  of  all  their  con- 
vulsions, frantic  agonies,  and  spasms,  he  strangled  them  and 
their  whole  faction,  with  as  much  ease  as  Hercules  did  the 
serpent  Python. 

"  Who  can  turn  over  the  debates  of  the  day,  and  read 
the  account  of  this  conflict  between  youthful  ardour  and 
hoary-headed  cunning  and  power,  without  kindling  in  the 
cause  of  the  tyro,  and  shouting  at  his  victory  ?  That  they 
should  have  attempted  to  pass  off  the  grand,  yet  solid  and 
judicious  operations  of  a  mind  like  his,  as  being  mere  theat- 
rical start  and  emotion  ;  the  giddy,  hair-brained  eccentrici- 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  ENGLAND.  IO/ 


ties  of  a  romantic  boy !  That  they  should  have  had  the 
presumption  to  suppose  themselves  capable  of  chaining 
down  to  the  floor  of  the  parliament  a  genius  so  ethereal, 
towering,  and  sublime,  seems  unaccountable!  Why  did 
they  not,  in  the  next  breath,  by  way  of  crowning  the  climax 
of  vanity,  bid  the  magnificent  fire-ball  to  descend  from  its 
exalted  and  appropriate  region,  and  perform  its  splendid 
tour  along  the  surface  of  the  earth  ? 

"  Talents  which  are  before  the  public  have  nothing  to 
dread,  either  from  the  jealous  pride  of  power,  or  from  the 
transient  misrepresentations  of  party,  spleen,  or  envy.  In 
spite  of  opposition  from  any  cause,  their  buoyant  spirit  will 
lift  them  to  their  proper  grade. 

"  The  man  who  comes  fairly  before  the  world,  and  who 
possesses  the  great  and  vigorous  stamina  which  entitle  him 
to  a  niche  in  the  temple  of  glory,  has  no  reason  to  dread  the 
ultimate  result ;  however  slow  his  progress  may  be,  he  will, 
in  the  end,  most  indubitably  receive  that  distinction. 
While  the  rest,  '  the  swallows  of  science/  the  butterflies  of 
genius,  may  flutter  for  their  spring  ;  but  they  will  soon  pass 
away,  and  be  remembered  no  more.  No  enterprising  man, 
therefore,  and  least  of  all  the  truly  great  man,  has  reason 
to  droop  or  repine  at  any  efforts  which  he  may  suppose  to 
be  made  with  the  view  to  depress  him.  Let,  then,  the 
tempest  of  envy  or  of  malice  howl  around  him.  His  genius 
will  consecrate  him ;  and  any  attempt  to  extinguish  that, 
will  be  as  unavailing,  as  would  a  human  effort  '  to  quench 
the  stars.' 

The  following  observations  concerning  the  eloquence  of 
Lord  Chatham  were  made  soon  after  his  death  : 

"  Those  who  have  been  witnesses  to  the  wonders  of  his 
eloquence — who  have  listened  to  the  music  of  his  voice,  or 
trembled  at  its  majesty — who  have  seen  the  graceful  persua- 
siveness of  his  action,  or  have  felt  its  force  ; — those  who  have 
caught  the  flame  of  eloquence  from  his  eye — who  have  rejoiced 
in  the  glories  of  his  countenance — or  shrunk  from  his  frowns, 
—will  remember  the  resistless  power  with  which  he  impressed 
conviction.  But  to  those  who  never  heard  nor  saw  this 


IOS  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


accomplished  orator,  the  utmost  effort  of  imagination  will 
be  necessary  to  form  a  just  idea  of  that  combination  of 
excellence  which  gave  perfection  to  his  eloquence : — his 
elevated  aspect,  commanding  the  awe  and  mute  attention  of 
all  who  beheld  him  ;  whilst  a  certain  grace  in  his  manner, 
conscious  of  all  the  dignities  of  his  situation,  of  the  solemn 
scene  he  acted  in,  as  well  as  his  own  exalted  character, 
seemed  to  acknowledge  and  repay  the  respect  he  received  ; — 
his  memorable  form,  bowed  with  infirmity  and  age,  but  ani- 
mated by  a  mind  which  nothing  could  subdue  ; — his  spirit 
shining  through  him,  arming  his  eye  with  lightning,  and 
clothing  his  lips  with  thunder ; — or  if  milder  topics  offered, 
harmonising  his  countenance  in  smiles,  and  his  voice  in  soft- 
ness ; — for  the  compass  of  his  powers  was  infinite.  As  no 
idea  was  too  vast,  no  imagination  too  sublime,  for  the  grand- 
eur and  majesty  of  his  manner ;  so  no  fancy  was  too  playful, 
nor  any  allusion  too  comic,  for  the  ease  and  gaiety  with 
which  he  could  accommodate  to  the  occasion.  But  the 
character  of  his  oratory  was  dignity  :  this  presided  through- 
out ;  giving  force,  because  securing  respect,  even  to  his 
sallies  of  pleasantry.  This  elevated  the  most  familiar  lan- 
guage, and  gave  novelty  and  grace  to  the  most  familiar 
allusions  ;  so  that,  in  his  hand,  even  the  crutch  became  a 
weapon  of  oratory." 

William  Pitt. — William  Pitt,  the  second  son  of  William 
Pitt,  Earl  of  Chatham,  and  of  Lady  Hester  Granville,  daugh- 
ter of  Hester,  Countess  Temple,  was  born  on  the  28th  of 
May,  1759. 

Pitt's  genius  and  ambition  when  a  child  displayed  them- 
selves with  a  rare  and  almost  unnatural  precocity.  He 
amazed  his  parents  and  teachers  when  only  seven  years  of 
age  by  the  interest  he  took  in  grave  subjects,  the  ardour 
with  which  he  pursued  his  studies,  and  the  sound  judgment 
with  which  he  criticised  books  and  events.  When  his  father 
was  made  Earl  of  Chatham,  he  exclaimed  :  "  I  am  glad  that 
I  am  not  the  eldest  son.  I  want  to  speak  in  the  House  of 
Commons  like  papa."  Pitt,  when  a  young  man,  paid  but 
little  attention  to  English  literature.  He  was  unacquainted 


ORATORY  IN1  ENGLAND.  TOO, 


with  any  living  language  except  French,  and  that  he  knew 
imperfectly.  He  was  intimate,  however,  with  a  few  of  the 
best  English  writers,  particularly  with  Shakespeare  and 
Milton. 

The  debate  in  Pandemonium  was  one  of  his  favourite 
passages,  and  his  early  friends  used  to  speak  of  the  just 
emphasis  and  melodious  cadence  with  which  they  had  heard 
him  recite  the  incomparable  speech  of  Belial. 

Pitt  had  been  trained  by  his  father  from  infancy  in  the 
art  of  managing  his  voice,  which  was  naturally  clear  and 
deep-toned.  The  wits  of  Brooke's,  at  a  later  period,  irri- 
tated by  observing,  night  after  night,  how  powerfully  Pitt's 
fascinating  elocution  affected  the  rows  of  country  gentle- 
men, reproached  him  with  having  been  "  taught  by  his  dad 
on  a  stool." 

Pitt's  education  was  well  adapted  to  form  a  great  parlia- 
mentary orator.  His  classical  studies,  from  the  way  he 
carried  them  on,  had  the  effect  of  greatly  enriching  his 
English  vocabulary,  and  of  making  him  wonderfully  expert 
in  the  difficulty  of  constructing  strikingly  beautiful  and 
correct  English  sentences. 

It  was  his  practice  "  to  look  over  a  page  or  two  of  a  Greek 
or  Latin  author,  to  make  himself  master  of  the  meaning, 
and  then  to  read  the  passage  straightforward  into  his  own 
language.  It  is  not  strange  that  a  young  man  of  great 
abilities,  should  soon  become  an  accomplished  speaker  by 
following  this  course." 

"  Of  all  the  remains  of  antiquity,  the  orations  were  those 
on  which  he  bestowed  the  most  minute  examination.  His 
favourite  employment  was  to  compare  harangues  on  opposite 
sides  of  the  same  question,  to  analyse  them,  and  to  observe 
which  of  the  arguments  of  the  first  speaker  were  refuted  by 
the  second,  which  were  evaded,  and  which  were  left  un- 
touched. Nor  was  it  only  in  books  that  he  at  this  time 
studied  the  art  of  parliamentary  fencing.  When  he  was  at 
home,  he  had  frequent  opportunities  of  hearing  important 
debates  at  Westminister;  and  he  heard  them  not  only  with 
interest  and  enjoyment,  but  with  a  close  scientific  attention 


1 10  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


resembling  that  with  which  a  diligent  pupil  at  Guy's  Hos- 
pital watches  every  turn  of  the  hand  of  a  great  surgeon 
through  a  difficult  operation."  (Enc.  Brit.,  Art.  "  Pitt.") 

"  If  from  the  statesman  we  turn  to  the  orator,  Pitt  is  to  be 
placed,  without  any  doubt,  in  the  highest  class.  With  a 
sparing  use  of  ornament,  hardly  indulging  more  in  figures, 
or  even  in  figurative  expression,  than  the  most  severe  ex- 
amples of  ancient  chasteness  allowed — with  little  variety  of 
style,  hardly  any  graces  of  manner — he  no  sooner  rose  than 
he  carried  away  every  hearer,  and  kept  the  attention  fixed 
and  unflagging  till  it  pleased  him  to  let  it  go ;  and  then 

1  *  So  charming  left  his  voice,  that  we,  awhile, 

Still  thought  him  speaking  ;  still  stood  fixed  to  hear.' 

This  magical  effect  was  produced  by  his  unbroken  flow, 
which  never  for  a  moment  left  the  hearer  in  pain  or  doubt, 
and  yet  was  not  the  mean  fluency  of  mere  relaxation, 
requiring  no  effort  of  the  speaker,  but  imposing  on  the 
listener  a  heavy  task  ;  by  his  lucid  arrangement,  which  made 
all  parts  of  the  most  complicated  subject  quit  their  entangle- 
ment, and  fall  each  into  its  place  ;  by  the  clearness  of  his 
statements,  which  presented  at  once  a  picture  to  the  mind  ; 
by  the  forcible  appeals  to  strict  reason  and  strong  feeling, 
which  formed  the  great  staple  of  the  discourse  ;  by  the 
majesty  of  the  diction  ;  by  the  depth  and  fulness  of  the 
most  sonorous  voice,  and  the  unbending  dignity  of  the 
manner,  which  ever  reminded  us  that  we  were  in  the  pres- 
ence of  more  than  an  advocate  or  debater — that  there  stood 
before  us  a  ruler  of  the  people.  Such  were  invariably  the 
effects  of  this  singular  eloquence,  and  they  were  as  certainly 
on  ordinary  occasions,  as  in  those  grander  displays  when  he 
rose  to  the  height  of  some  great  argument,  or  indulged  in 
vehement  invective  against  some  individual,  and  variegated 
his  speech  with  that  sarcasm  of  which  he  was  so  great  a 
master,  and  indeed  so  little  sparing  an  employer, — although 
even  here  all  was  uniform  and  consistent,  nor  did  anything, 
in  any  mood  of  mind,  ever  drop  from  him  that  was  unsuited 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  ENGLAND.  1 1 1 


to  the  majestic  frame  of  the  whole,  or  could  disturb  the 
serenity  of  the  full  and  copious  flood  rolled  along." 

The  subjoined  remarks  were  made  by  Mr.  Pitt  in  reference 
to  a  resolution  declaring  that  immediate  measures  ought 
to  be  adopted  for  concluding  peace  with  the  American 
colonies : 

"Gentlemen  have  passed  the  highest  eulogiums  on  the 
American  war.  Its  justice  has  been  denied  in  the  most 
fervent  manner.  A  noble  lord,  in  the  heat  of  his  zeal,  has 
called  it  a  holy  war.  For  my  part,  although  the  honourable 
gentleman  who  made  this  motion,  and  some  other  gentle- 
men, have  been,  more  than  once,  in  the  course  of  the  debate, 
severely  reprehended  for  calling  it  a  wicked  and  accursed 
war,  I  am  persuaded,  and  would  affirm,  that  it  was  a  most 
accursed,  wicked,  barbarous,  cruel,  unnatural,  unjust,  and 
diabolical  war  !  It  was  conceived  in  injustice  ;  it  was  nur- 
tured and  brought  forth  in  folly  ;  its  footsteps  were  marked 
with  blood,  slaughter,  persecution,  and  devastation ; — in 
truth,  everything  which  went  to  constitute  moral  depravity 
and  human  turpitude  were  to  be  found  in  it.  It  was  preg- 
nant with  misery  of  every  kind. 

"  The  mischief,  however,  recoiled  on  the  unhappy  people 
of  this  country,  who  were  made  the  instruments  by  which 
the  wicked  purposes  of  the  authors  of  the  war  were  effected. 
The  nation  was  drained  of  its  best  blood,  and  of  its  vital  re- 
sources of  men  and  money.  The  expense  of  the  war  was 
enormous, — much  beyond  any  former  experience.  And  yet, 
what  has  the  British  nation  received  in  return  ?  Nothing 
but  a  series  of  ineffective  victories,  or  severe  defeats  ;— vic- 
tories celebrated  only  by  a  temporary  triumph  over  our 
brethren,  whom  we  would  trample  down  and  destroy  ;  vic- 
tories, which  filled  the  land  with  mourning  for  the  loss  of 
dear  and  valued  relatives,  slain  in  the  impious  cause  of 
enforcing  unconditional  submission,  or  with  narratives  of  the 
glorious  exertions  of  men  struggling  in  the  holy  cause  of 
liberty,  though  struggling  in  the  absence  of  all  the  facilities 
and  advantages  which  are  in  general  deemed  the  necessary 
concomitants  of  victory  and  success.  Where  was  the  Eng- 


112  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


lishman,  who,  on  reading  the  narratives  of  those  bloody  and 
well-fought  contests,  could  refrain  from  lamenting  the  loss 
of  so  much  British  blood  spilt  in  such  a  cause  ;  or  from 
weeping,  on  whatever  side  victory  might  be  declared  ?  " 

Certain  resolutions  were  passed  by  the  house  in  1784  for 
the  removal  of  his  Majesty's  ministers,  at  the  head  of  whom 
was  Mr.  Pitt.  These  resolutions,  however,  his  Majesty  had 
not  thought  proper  to  comply  with.  A  reference  having 
been  made  to  them,  Mr.  Pitt  spoke  as  follows,  replying  to 
Mr.  Fox: 

"  Can  anything  that  I  have  said,  Mr.  Speaker,  subject  me 
to  be  branded  with  the  imputation  of  preferring  my  personal 
situation  to  the  public  happiness  ?  Sir,  I  have  declared, 
again  and  again,  only  prove  to  me  that  there  is  any  reason- 
able hope — show  me  but  the  most  distant  prospect — that 
my  resignation  will  at  all  contribute  to  restore  peace  and 
happiness  to  the  country,  and  I  will  instantly  resign.  But, 
sir,  I  declare,  at  the  same  time,  I  will  not  be  induced  to  re- 
sign as  a  preliminary  to  negotiation.  I  will  not  abandon 
this  situation,  in  order  to  throw  myself  upon  the  mercy  of 
that  right  honourable  gentleman.  He  calls  me  now  a  mere 
nominal  minister,  the  mere  puppet  of  secret  influence.  Sir, 
it  is  because  I  will  not  become  a  mere  nominal  minister  of 
his  creation, — it  is  because  I  disdain  to  become  the  puppet 
of  that  right  honourable  gentleman, — that  I  will  not  resign  ; 
neither  shall  his  contemptuous  expressions  provoke  me  to 
resignation  :  my  own  honour  and  reputation  I  never  will 
resign. 

"  Let  this  house  beware  of  suffering  any  individual  to  in- 
volve his  own  cause,  and  to  interweave  his  own  interests,  in 
the  resolutions  of  the  House  of  Commons.  The  dignity  of 
the  house  is  forever  appealed  to.  Let  us  beware  that  it  is 
not  the  dignity  of  any  set  of  men.  Let  us  beware  that 
personal  prejudices  have  no  share  in  deciding  these  great 
constitutional  questions.  The  right  honourable  gentleman 
is  possessed  of  those  enchanting  arts  whereby  he  can  give 
grace  to  deformity.  He  holds  before  your  eyes  a  beautiful 
and  delusive  image  ;  he  pushes  it  forward  to  your  observa- 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  ENGLAND.  1 1 3 


tion  ;  but,  as  sure  as  you  embrace  it,  the  pleasing  vision  will 
vanish,  and  this  fair  phantom  of  liberty  will  be  succeeded  by 
anarchy,  confusion,  and  ruin  to  the  constitution.  For,  in 
truth,  sir,  if  the  constitutional  independence  of  the  crown  is 
thus  reduced  to  the  very  verge  of  annihilation,  where  is  the 
boasted  equipoise  of  the  Constitution  ?  Dreadful,  therefore, 
as  the  conflict  is,  my  conscience,  my  duty,  my  fixed  regard 
for  the  Constitution  of  our  ancestors,  maintain  me  still  in 
this  arduous  situation.  It  is  not  any  proud  contempt,  or 
defiance  of  the  constitutional  resolutions  of  this  house, — it 
is  no  personal  point  of  honour, — much  less  is  it  any  lust  of 
power,  that  makes  me  still  cling  to  office.  The  situation  of 
the  times  requires  of  me — and,  I  will  add,  the  country  calls 
aloud  to  me — that  I  should  defend  this  castle  ;  and  I  am  de- 
termined, therefore,  I  WILL  defend  it  !  " 

Pitt's  speech  on  the  war  in  1803  is  supposed  to  have  ex- 
celled all  his  other  speeches  in  "  vehement  and  spirit-stirring 
declamation."  Mr.  Fox,  in  his  reply,  said  :  "  The  orators  of 
antiquity  would  have  admired,  probably  would  have  envied, 
it." 

Probably  his  finest  speech  is  that  upon  the  peace  of  1783 
and  the  coalition,  "  when  he  so  happily  closed  his  magnifi- 
cent peroration  by  that  noble  yet  simple  figure  "  :  "  And  if 
this  inauspicious  union  be  not  already  consummated,  in  the 
name  of  my  country  I  forbid  the  banns." 

"  But,"  says  an  able  critic,  "  all  authorities  agree  in  placing 
his  speech  on  the  slave  trade,  in  1 791 ,  before  any  other  effort  of 
his  genius ;  because  it  combined,  with  the  most  impassioned 
declamation,  the  deepest  pathos,  the  most  lively  imagination, 
and  the  closest  reasoning."  Fox  is  said  to  have  listened  to 
this  speech  with  the  greatest  interest.  Sheridan  praised  it 
highly,  and  Mr.  Windham  said  that  he  "  walked  home  lost 
in  amazement  at  the  compass,  till  then  unknown  to  him,  of 
human  eloquence." 

As  a  parliamentary  orator  Mr.  Pitt's  powers  were  various. 
In  statement  he  was  perspicuous,  in  declamation  animated. 
If  he  had  to  explain  a  financial  account  he  was  clear  and 
accurate.  If  he  wanted  to  rouse  a  just  indignation  for  the 


114  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


wrongs  of  the  country  he  was  rapid,  vehement,  glowing,  and 
impassioned.  And  whether  his  discourse  was  argumentative 
or  declamatory,  it  always  displayed  a  happy  choice  of  expres- 
sion and  a  fluency  of  diction,  which  could  not  fail  to  delight 
his  hearers.  So  singularly  select,  felicitous,  and  appropriate 
was  his  language  that,  it  has  often  been  remarked,  a  word  of 
his  speech  could  scarcely  be  changed  without  prejudice  to  its 
harmony,  vigour,  or  effect.  He  seldom  was  satisfied  with 
standing  on  the  defensive  in  debate  ;  but  was  proud  to  con- 
trast his  own  actions  with  the  avowed  intentions  of  his 
opponents.  These  intentions,  too,  he  often  exposed  with 
the  most  pointed  sarcasm  ;  a  weapon  which,  perhaps,  no 
speaker  wielded  with  more  dexterity  and  force  than  himself. 

"  Of  his  eloquence,  it  may  be  observed  generally,  that  it 
combined  the  eloquence  of  Tully  with  the  energy  of 
Demosthenes.  It  was  spontaneous ;  always  great,  it  shone 
with  peculiar,  with  unequalled  splendour,  in  a  reply,  which 
precluded  the  possibility  of  previous  study ;  while  it  fasci- 
nated the  imagination  by  the  brilliancy  of  language,  it  con- 
vinced the  judgment  by  the  force  of  argument, — like  an 
impetuous  torrent,  it  bore  downfall  resistance,  extorting  the 
admiration  even  of  those  who  most  severely  felt  its  strength, 
and  who  most  earnestly  deprecated  its  effect.  It  is  unneces- 
sary, and  might  be  presumptuous  to  enter  more  minutely 
into  the  character  of  Mr.  Pitt's  eloquence ; — there  are  many 
living  witnesses  of  its  power — it  will  be  admired  as  long  as 
it  shall  be  remembered." 

The  sketch  of  Mr.  Pitt  by  his  political  associate  and 
ardent  admirer,  Mr.  Canning,  is  interesting: 

"  The  character  of  this  illustrious  statesman  early  passed 
its  ordeal.  Scarcely  had  he  attained  the  age  at  which  reflec- 
tion commences,  when  Europe  with  astonishment  beheld 
him  filling  the  first  place  in  the  councils  of  his  country,  and 
managing  the  vast  mass  of  its  concerns  with  all  the  vigour 
and  steadiness  of  the  most  matured  wisdom.  Dignity — 
strength — discretion, — these  were  among  the  masterly  quali- 
ties of  his  mind  at  its  first  dawn.  He  had  been  nurtured  a 
statesman,  and  his  knowledge  was  of  that  kind  which  always 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  115 


lay  ready  for  application.  Not  dealing  in  the  subtleties  of 
abstract  politics,  but  moving  in  the  slow,  steady  procession 
of  reason,  his  conceptions  were  reflective,  and  his  views  cor- 
rect. Habitually  attentive  to  the  concerns  of  government, 
he  spared  no  pains  to  acquaint  himself  with  whatever  was 
connected,  however  minutely,  with  its  prosperity.  He  was 
devoted  to  the  state.  Its  interests  engrossed  all  his  study 
and  engaged  all  his  care.  It  was  the  element  alone  in  which 
he  seemed  to  live  and  move.  He  allowed  himself  but  little 
recreation  from  his  labours.  His  mind  was  always  on  its  sta- 
tion, and  its  activity  was  unremitted. 

"  He  did  not  hastily  adopt  a  measure  nor  hastily  abandon 
it.  The  plan  struck  out  by  him  for  the  preservation  of 
Europe  was  the  result  of  prophetic  wisdom  and  pro- 
found policy.  But,  though  defeated  in  many  respects 
by  the  selfish  ambition  and  short-sighted  imbecility  of 
foreign  powers — whose  rulers  were  too  venal  or  too  weak 
to  follow  the  flight  of  that  mind  which  would  have  taught 
them  to  outwing  the  storm — the  policy  involved  in  it  has 
still  a  secret  operation  on  the  conduct  of  surrounding  states. 
His  plans  were  full  of  energy,  and  the  principles  which 
inspired  them  looked  beyond  the  consequences  of  the  hour. 

"  He  knew  nothing  of  that  timid  and  wavering  cast  of 
mind  which  dares  not  abide  by  its  own  decision.  He  never 
suffered  popular  prejudice  or  party  clamour  to  turn  him 
aside  from  any  measure  which  his  deliberate  judgment  had 
adopted.  He  had  a  proud  reliance  on  himself,  and  it  was 
justified.  Like  the  sturdy  warrior  leaning  on  his  own  battle- 
axe,  conscious  where  his  strength  lay,  he  did  not  readily 
look  beyond  it. 

"  As  a  debater  in  the  House  of  Commons,  his  speeches 
were  logical  and  argumentative.  If  they  did  not  often 
abound  in  the  graces  of  metaphor,  or  sparkle  with  the  bril- 
liancy of  wit,  they  were  always  animated,  elegant,  and  classi- 
cal. The  strength  of  his  oratory  was  intrinsic ;  it  presented 
the  rich  and  abundant  resource  of  a  clear  discernment  and  a 
correct  taste.  His  speeches  are  stamped  with  inimitable 
marks  of  originality.  When  replying  to  his  opponents, 


Il6  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


his  readiness  was  not  more  conspicuous  than  his  energy. 
He  was  always  prompt  and  always  dignified.  He  could 
sometimes  have  recourse  to  the  sportiveness  of  irony,  but  he 
did  not  often  seek  any  other  aid  than  was  to  be  derived  from 
an  arranged  and  extensive  knowledge  of  his  subject.  This 
qualified  him  fully  to  discuss  the  arguments  of  others,  and 
forcibly  to  defend  his  own.  Thus  armed,  it  was  rarely  in 
the  power  of  his  adversaries,  mighty  as  they  were,  to  beat 
him  from  the  field.  His  eloquence  occasionally  rapid, 
electric,  and  vehement,  was  always  chaste,  winning,  and 
persuasive — not  awing  into  acquiescence,  but  arguing  into 
conviction.  His  understanding  was  bold  and  comprehensive. 
Nothing  seemed  too  remote  for  its  reach  or  too  large  for  its 
grasp. 

"  Unallured  by  dissipation  and  unswayed  by  pleasure,  he 
never  sacrificed  the  national  duty  to  the  one  or  the  national 
interest  to  the  other.  To  his  unswerving  integrity  the  most 
authentic  of  all  testimony  is  to  be  found  in  that  unbounded 
public  confidence  which  followed  him  throughout  the  whole 
of  his  political  career. 

"  Absorbed  as  he  was  in  the  pursuits  of  public  life,  he  did 
not  neglect  to  prepare  himself  in  silence  for  that  higher  des- 
tination, which  is  at  once  the  incentive  and  the  reward  of 
human  virtue.  His  talents,  superior  and  splendid  as  they 
were,  never  made  him  forgetful  of  that  Eternal  Wisdom 
from  which  they  emanated.  The  faith  and  fortitude  of  his 
last  moments  were  affecting  and  exemplary." 

The  following  observations  on  the  style  of  Fox  and  Pitt 
are  interesting  and  instructive  : 

"  Mr.  Burke  may  be  said  to  have  belonged  to  a  Triumvi- 
rate of  eloquence — the  greatest,  unquestionably,  that  ever 
divided  among  them  the  empire  of  mind.  Mr.  Fox  though 
a  much  younger  man,  entered  on  his  parliamentary  career, 
nearly  at  the  same-time  with  Burke.  For  a  while  he  was 
willing  to  rank  as  his  disciple  and  follower ;  but  in  a  few 
years  his  growing  abilities — his  great  skill  in  debate — the 
charm  of  his  disposition  and  manners — and  his  superior 
political  connections,  gave  him  the  ascendancy,  and  made 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  ENGLAND.  1 1  / 

him  the  acknowledged  leader  of  the  opposition  ranks.  When 
some  twelve  years  later  the  youthful  Pitt  appeared  upon  the 
scene,  he  found  those  great  men  in  full  possession  of  the 
stage.  The  ease  and  suddenness  with  which  he  vaulted  to 
the  first  place  of  honour  and  power  is  well  known.  That  he 
should  succeed  against  such  competition,  was  the  strongest 
proof  of  talent  he  could  give.  At  the  age  of  twenty-three 
years,  he  had  vanquished  an  opposing  majority  in  the  House 
of  Commons,  led  by  Fox,  Sheridan,  and  Burke — had  won 
the  nation  to  his  side — and  was  wielding  the  destinies  of 
the  British  Empire. 

"  The  oratory  of  Fox  and  Pitt  was  very  unlike  that  of  the 
great  Triumvir  already  described.  Their  scene  of  glory  was 
the  arena  of  debate.  Theirs  was  the  skill  and  power  acquired 
by  the  breaking  of  lances,  by  the  parrying  and  giving  of 
blows,  in  many  a  '  passage  of  arms'.  More  dexterous  or 
powerful  combatants  never  engaged  in  political  warfare :  a 
warfare  maintained  by  them  with  scarce  an  intermission,  for 
more  than  twenty  years.  The  question  of  their  comparative 
greatness  it  would  be  difficult  to  settle,  but  we  can  easily 
perceive  that  they  were  very  unlike.  Fox  was  persuasive, 
impetuous,  powerful.  To  strong  argument,  and  vehement 
appeal,  he  could  add  the  lighter  but  often  more  effective 
weapons  of  ridicule  and  wit.  Before  his  rushing  charge, 
nothing  for  the  moment  could  stand.  But  he  was  often 
incautious,  and  generally  lacked  that  higher  power,  which  is 
necessary  to  turn  even  victory  to  account.  His  antagonist 
had  far  more  dignity,  vigilance,  and  prudence.  He  could 
never  be  thrown  from  his  guard.  He  was  lofty  and  fluent, 
but  not  impassioned  ;  sarcastic,  but  not  witty.  The  conflict 
of  these  rival  statesmen  was  often  that  of  Roderick  Dhu  and 
Snowdon's  Knight.  The  giant  strength  and  fiery  valor  of 
the  highland  chief  are  wasted  on  the  air.  But  '  Fitz  James's 
blade  is  sword  and  shield.'  Even  the  personal  qualities  of 
the  two-men  influenced,  probably  in  some  degree,  the  judg- 
ments which  were  formed  of  their  eloquence.  Who  can  doubt 
that  Mr.  Fox  would  have  been  even  more  admired,  and 
trusted,  and  beloved,  if  to  his  winning  manners  and  bril- 


118  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


liant  powers  he  had  added  the  virtuous  circumspection  of 
his  illustrious  rival  ?  " 

In  private  life  Pitt's  integrity  was  without  a  stain.  He 
was  exceedingly  amiable  ;  "  his  spirits  were  naturally  buoy- 
ant and  even  playful,"  his  affections  were  warm,  his  veracity 
never  questioned. 

Fox. — Charles  James  Fox,  if  not  the  greatest  orator,  was 
the  most  accomplished  debater  that  ever  appeared  upon  the 
theatre  of  public  affairs  in  any  age  or  country. 

He  was  unacquainted  with  even  the  rudiments  of  meta- 
physical philosophy,  natural  science,  or  political  economy. 
His  acquaintance,  however,  with  the  Greek  and  Latin  clas- 
sics was  intimate.  His  knowledge  of  general  history  was 
not  very  extensive,  but  his  knowledge  of  the  history  of 
England  and  of  other  modern  states  was  accurate  and  pro- 
found, and  it  is  said  that  no  politician  in  any  age  ever  knew 
so  perfectly  the  various  interests  and  the  exact  position  of 
all  the  countries  with  which  England  had  dealings  to  con- 
duct or  relations  to  maintain.  His  knowledge  of  modern 
languages  was  minute. 

Fox  was  largely  indebted  to  his  charming  social  qualities, 
his  amiable  disposition,  sweetness  of  temper,  sunny  humour, 
and  generous,  open,  manly  nature  for  his  popularity. 

He  abhorred  duplicity  or  dissimulation,  and  was  the 
uncompromising  enemy  of  corruption  in  all  its  forms. 

He  determined  at  an  early  age  to  excel  as  a  parliamentary 
speaker,  and  he  was  untiring  in  his  efforts  to  accomplish  his 
purpose.  He  said  on  one  occasion  :  "  During  five  whole 
sessions  I  spoke  every  night  but  one ;  and  I  reget  that  I  did 
not  speak  on  that  night  too." 

Fox  was  very  careless  in  his  dress. 

Directly  after  he  heard  him  in  the  House  of  Commons, 
Horace  Walpole  said  of  him  :  "  Fox's  abilities  are  amazing 
at  so  very  early  a  period,  especially  under  the  circumstances 
of  such  a  dissolute  life.  He  was  just  arrived  from  New- 
market and  had  sat  up  drinking  all  night,  and  had  not 
been  in  bed.  How  such  talents  make  one  laugh  at  Tully's 
rules  for  an  orator,  and  his  indefatigable  application !  His 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  ENGLAND.  1 19 


laboured  orations  are  puerile  in  comparison  to  this  boy's 
manly  reason." 

From  the  speech  of  Mr.  Fox  in  1797  on  "  Parliamentary 
Reform,"  the  following  passage  upon  the  progress  of  liberty 
will  be  found  interesting : 

"  Liberty  is  order.  Liberty  is  strength.  Look  round  the 
world,  and  admire,  as  you  must,  the  instructive  spectacle. 
You  will  see  that  liberty  not  only  is  power  and  order,  but 
that  it  is  power  and  order  predominant  and  invincible, — 
that  it  derides  all  other  sources  of  strength.  And  shall  the 
preposterous  imagination  be  fostered,  that  men  bred  in 
liberty, — the  first  of  human  kind  who  asserted  the  glorious 
distinction  of  forming  for  themselves  their  social  compact, — 
can  be  condemned  to  silence  upon  their  rights?  Is  it  to  be 
conceived  that  men  who  have  enjoyed,  for  such  a  length  of 
days,  the  light  and  happiness  of  freedom,  can  be  restrained, 
and  shut  up  again  in  the  gloom  of  ignorance  and  degrada- 
tion ?  As  well  might  you  try,  by  a  miserable  dam,  to  shut 
up  the  flowing  of  a  rapid  river !  The  rolling  and  impetuous 
tide  would  burst  through  every  impediment  that  man  might 
throw  in  its  way ;  and  the  only  consequence  of  the  impotent 
attempt  would  be  that,  having  collected  new  force  by  its 
temporary  suspension,  enforcing  itself  through  new  channels, 
it  would  spread  devastation  and  ruin  on  every  side.  The 
progress  of  liberty  is  like  the  progress  of  the  stream.  Kept 
within  its  bounds,  it  is  sure  to  fertilise  the  country  through 
which  it  runs ;  but  no  power  can  arrest  it  in  its  passage ; 
and  short-sighted,  as  well  as  wicked,  must  be  the  heart  of 
the  projector  that  would  strive  to  divert  its  course." 

Mr.  Fox  was  always  a  warm  friend  of  America.  In  1778, 
he  said  in  parliament  among  other  things  in  regard  to  the 
American  motive  to  war : 

"  Every  blow  you  strike  in  America  is  against  yourselves  ; 
it  is  against  all  idea  of  reconciliation,  and  against  your  own 
interest,  though  you  should  be  able,  as  you  never  will  be,  to 
force  them  to  submit.  Every  stroke  against  France  is  of 
advantage  to  you  :  America  must  be  conquered  in  France ; 
France  never  can  be  conquered  in  America. 


120  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


"  The  war  of  the  Americans  is  a  war  of  passion  ;  it  is  of 
such  a  nature  as  to  be  supported  by  the  most  powerful  vir- 
tues, love  of  liberty  and  of  their  country ;  and,  at  the  same 
time,  by  those  passions  in  the  human  heart  which  give 
courage,  strength,  and  perseverance  to  man ;  the  spirit  of 
revenge  for  the  injuries  you  have  done  them;  of  retaliation 
for  the  hardships  you  have  inflicted  on  them  ;  and  of  oppo- 
sition to  the  unjust  powers  you  have  exercised  over  them. 
Everything  combines  to  animate  them  to  this  war,  and  such 
a  war  is  without  end  ;  for  whatever  obstinacy  enthusiasm 
ever  inspired  man  with,  you  will  now  find  in  America.  No 
matter  what  gives  birth  to  that  enthusiasm ;  whether  the 
name  of  religion  or  of  liberty,  the  effects  are  the  same ;  it 
inspires  a  spirit  which  is  unconquerable,  and  solicitous  to 
undergo  difficulty,  danger,  and  hardship :  and  as  long  as 
there  is  a  man  in  America,  a  being  formed  such  as  we  are, 
you  will  have  him  present  himself  against  you  in  the  field." 

In  1780,  speaking  of  the  results  of  the  American  war,  Mr. 
Fox  said : 

"  We  are  charged  with  expressing  joy  at  the  triumphs  of 
America.  True  it  is  that,  in  a  former  session,  I  proclaimed 
it  as  my  sincere  opinion,  that  if  the  Ministry  had  succeeded 
in  their  first  scheme  on  the  liberties  of  America,  the  liberties 
of  this  country  would  have  been  at  an  end.  Thinking  this, 
as  I  did,  in  the  sincerity  of  an  honest  heart,  I  rejoiced  at  the 
resistance  which  the  ministry  had  met  to  their  attempt. 
That  great  and  glorious  statesman,  the  late  Earl  of  Chatham, 
feeling  for  the  liberties  of  his  native  country,  thanked  God 
that  America  had  resisted.  But,  it  seems,  '  all  the  calamities 
of  the  country  are  to  be  ascribed  to  the  wishes,  and  the  joy, 
and  the  speeches,  of  opposition.'  O  miserable  and  unfor- 
tunate ministry !  O  blind  and  incapable  men !  whose 
measures  are  framed  with  so  little  foresight,  and  executed 
with  so  little  firmness,  that  they  not  only  crumble  to  pieces, 
but  bring  on  the  ruin  of  their  country,  merely  because  one 
rash,  weak,  or  wicked  man,  in  the  House  of  Commons,  makes 
a  speech  against  them  ! 

"  But  who  is  he  who  arraigns  gentlemen  on  this  side  of 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  ENGLAND.  1 2 1 


the  house  with  causing,  by  their  inflammatory  speeches,  the 
misfortunes  of  their  country  ?  The  accusation  comes  from 
one  whose  inflammatory  harangues  have  led  the  nation,  step 
by  step,  from  violence  to  violence,  in  that  inhuman,  unfeeling 
system  of  blood  and  massacre,  which  every  honest  man  must 
detest,  which  every  good  man  must  abhor,  and  every  wise 
man  condemn  !  And  this  man  imputes  the  guilt  of  such  meas- 
ures to  those  who  had  all  along  foretold  the  consequences  ; 
who  had  prayed,  entreated,  and  supplicated,  not  only  for 
America,  but  for  the  credit  of  the  nation  and  its  eventual 
welfare,  to  arrest  the  hand  of  power,  meditating  slaughter, 
and  directed  by  injustice  ! 

"  What  was  the  consequence  of  the  sanguinary  measures 
recommended  in  those  bloody,  inflammatory  speeches? 
Though  Boston  was  to  be  starved,  though  Hancock  and 
Adams  were  proscribed,  yet  at  the  feet  of  these  very  men  the 
Parliament  of  Great  Britain  was  obliged  to  kneel,  flatter,  and 
cringe ;  and,  as  it  had  the  cruelty  at  one  time  to  denounce 
vengeance  against  these  men,  so  it  had  the  meanness  after- 
wards to  implore  their  forgiveness.  Shall  he  who  called  the 
Americans  *  Hancock  and  his  crew,' — shall  he  presume  to 
reprehend  any  set  of  men  for  inflammatory  speeches  ?  It  is 
this  accursed  American  war  that  has  led  us,  step  by  step, 
into  all  our  present  misfortunes  and  national  disgraces. 
What  was  the  cause  of  our  wasting  forty  millions  of  money, 
and  sixty  thousand  lives  ?  The  American  war !  What  was 
it  that  produced  the  French  rescript  and  a  French  war? 
The  American  war  !  What  was  it  that  produced  the  Span- 
ish manifesto  and  Spanish  war  ?  The  American  war  !  What 
was  it  that  armed  forty-two  thousand  men  in  Ireland  with 
the  arguments  carried  on  the  points  of  forty  thousand  bayo- 
nets ?  The  American  war  !  For  what  are  we  about  to  incur 
an  additional  debt  of  twelve  or  fourteen  millions?  This  ac- 
cursed, cruel,  diabolical  American  war!  " 

In  1797,  speaking  of  the  vigour  of  democratic  govern- 
ments, Mr.  Fox  said  : 

"  When  we  look  at  the  democracies  of  the  ancient  world, 
we  are  compelled  to  acknowledge  their  oppressions  to  their 


122  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


dependencies  ;  their  horrible  acts  of  injustice  and  of  ingrati- 
tude to  their  own  citizens;  but  they  compel  us,  also,  to 
admiration,  by  their  vigour,  their  constancy,  their  spirit,  and 
their  exertions,  in  every  great  emergency  in  which  they  were 
called  upon  to  act.  We  are  compelled  to  own  that  the 
democratic  form  of  government  gives  a  power  of  which  no 
other  form  is  capable.  Why?  Because  it  incorporates 
every  man  with  the  state.  Because  it  arouses  everything 
that  belongs  to  the  soul,  as  well  as  to  the  body,  of  man. 
Because  it  makes  every  individual  feel  that  he  is  fighting  for 
himself ;  that  it  is  his  own  cause,  his  own  safety,  his  own 
dignity,  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  that  he  is  asserting.  Who, 
that  reads  the  history  of  the  Persian  War — what  boy,  whose 
heart  is  warmed  by  the  grand  and  sublime  actions  which  the 
democratic  spirit  produced, — does  not  find,  in  this  principle, 
the  key  to  all  the  wonders  which  were  achieved  at  Thermo- 
pylae and  elsewhere,  and  of  which  the  recent  and  marvellous 
acts  of  the  French  people  are  pregnant  examples  ?  Without 
disguising  the  vices  of  France, — without  overlooking  the  hor- 
rors that  have  been  committed,  and  that  have  tarnished  the 
glory  of  the  Revolution, — it  cannot  be  denied  that  they  have 
exemplified  the  doctrine,  that,  if  you  wish  for  power,  you 
must  look  to  liberty.  If  ever  there  was  a  moment  when  this 
maxim  ought  to  be  dear  to  us,  it  is  the  present.  We  have 
tried  all  other  means.  We  have  addressed  ourselves  to  all 
the  base  passions  of  the  people.  We  have  tried  to  terrify 
them  into  exertion ;  and  all  has  been  unequal  to  our  emer- 
gency. Let  us  try  them  by  the  only  means  which  experience 
demonstrates  to  be  invincible.  Let  us  address  ourselves  to 
their  love  !  Let  us  identify  them  with  ourselves ! — let  us 
make  it  their  own  cause,  as  well  as  ours ! " 

A  great  deal  has  been  said  and  written  of  Mr.  Fox's 
oratory.  From  all  accounts  of  it,  in  order  to  comprehend 
and  appreciate  it,  the  orator  himself  must  have  been  heard. 

When  Mr.  Fox  became  deeply  engaged  in  his  subject  he 
was  earnest,  pathetic,  and  impetuous,  as  the  occasion  de- 
manded. At  times  his  tones  were  so  thrilling  and  so  sweet 
that  every  heart  was  subdued.  Simplicity  and  vehemence 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  123 


were  two  of  the  most  prominent  traits  in  his  character  as 
an  orator.  Mr.  Goodwin  says :  "  I  have  seen  his  countenance 
lighten  up  with  more  than  mortal  ardour  and  goodness; 
I  have  been  present  when  his  voice  was  suffocated  with 
tears." 

Coleridge  says :  "  His  feeling  was  all  intellect,  and  his 
intellect  all  feeling." 

Says  Sir  James  Mackintosh  :  "  To  speak  of  him  justly  as  an 
orator  would  require  a  long  essay.  Everywhere  natural,  he 
carried  into  public  something  of  that  simple  and  negligent 
exterior  which  belonged  to  him  in  private.  When  he  began 
to  speak,  a  common  observer  might  have  thought  him  awk- 
ward ;  and  even  a  consummate  judge  could  only  have  been 
struck  with  the  exquisite  justness  of  his  ideas,  and  the  trans- 
parent simplicity  of  his  manners.  But  no  sooner  had  he 
spoken  for  some  time,  than  he  was  changed  into  another 
being.  He  forgot  himself  and  everything  around  him.  He 
thought  only  of  his  subject.  His  genius  warmed  and 
kindled  as  he  went  on.  He  darted  fire  into  his  audience. 
Torrents  of  impetuous  and  irresistible  eloquence  swept  along 
their  feelings  and  conviction.  He  certainly  possessed  above 
all  moderns,  that  union  of  reason,  simplicity,  and  vehemence 
which  formed  the  prince  of  orators.  He  was  the  most  De- 
mosthenean  speaker  since  Demosthenes." 

Lord  Brougham  in  contradiction  to  this  last  sentence 
remarks : 

"  There  never  was  a  greater  mistake,  than  the  fancying  a 
close  resemblance  between  his  eloquence  and  that  of  De- 
mosthenes; although  an  excellent  judge  (Sir  James  Mack- 
intosh) fell  into  it  when  he  pronounced  him  the  most 
Demosthenean  speaker  since  Demosthenes.  That  he  re- 
sembled his  immortal  predecessor  in  despising  all  useless 
ornament,  and  all  declamation  for  declamation's  sake,  is  true 
enough ;  but  it  applies  to  every  good  speaker  as  well  as  to 
those  two  signal  ornaments  of  ancient  and  modern  rhetoric. 
That  he  resembled  him  in  keeping  more  close  to  the  subject 
in  hand  than  many  good  and  even  great  speakers  have  often 
done,  may  also  be  affirmed  ;  yet  this  is  far  too  vague  and 


124  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


remote  a  likeness  to  justify  the  proposition  in  question  ;  and 
it  is  only  a  difference  in  degree,  and  not  a  specific  distinction 
between  him  and  others.  That  his  eloquence  was  fervid, 
rapid,  copious,  carrying  along  with  it  the  minds  of  the 
audience,  not  suffering  them  to  dwell  upon'  the  speaker  or 
the  speech,  but  engrossing  their  whole  attention,  and  keep- 
ing it  fixed  on  the  question,  is  equally  certain,  and  is  the 
only  real  resemblance  which  the  comparison  affords.  But 
then  the  points  of  difference  are  as  numerous  as  they  are 
important,  and  they  strike  indeed  upon  the  most  cursory 
glance.  The  one  was  full  of  repetitions,  recurring  again  and 
again  to  the  same  topic,  nay  to  the  same  view  of  it,  till  he 
had  made  his  impression  complete ;  the  other  never  came 
back  upon  a  ground  which  he  had  utterly  wasted  and  with- 
ered up  by  the  tide  of  fire  he  had  rolled  over  it.  The  one 
dwelt  at  length,  and  with  many  words,  on  his  topics;  the 
other  performed  the  whole  at  a  blow,  sometimes  with  a  word, 
always  with  the  smallest  number  of  words  possible.  The  one 
frequently  was  digressive,  even  narrative  and  copious  in  illus- 
tration ;  in  the  other  no  deviation  from  his  course  was  ever 
to  be  perceived ;  no  disporting  on  the  borders  of  his  way, 
more  than  any  lingering  upon  it ;  but  carried  rapidly  forward, 
and  without  swerving  to  the  right  or  to  the  left,  like  the  en- 
gines flying  along  a  railway,  and  like  them  driving  every- 
thing out  of  sight  that  obstructed  his  resistless  course." 

Professor  Goodrich,  after  quoting  the  conflicting  remarks 
of  Brougham  and  Mackintosh,  adds : 

"  When  two  such  men  differ  on  a  point  like  this,  we  may 
safely  say  that  both  are  in  the  right  and  in  the  wrong.  As 
to  certain  qualities,  Fox  was  the  very  reverse  of  the  great 
Athenian ;  as  to  others  they  had  much  in  common.  In 
whatever  relates  to  the  forms  of  oratory — symmetry,  dignity, 
grace,  the  working  up  of  thought  and  language  to  their  most 
perfect  expression, — Mr.  Fox  was  not  only  inferior  to  De- 
mosthenes, but  wholly  unlike  him,  having  no  rhetoric  and 
no  ideality  ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  in  the  structure  of  his 
understanding,  the  modes  of  its  operation,  the  soul  and 
spirit  which  breathe  throughout  his  eloquence,  there  was  a 


OR  A  TOR  Y  I  AT  ENGLA  ND.  1 2  5 


striking  resemblance.  This  will  appear  as  we  dwell  for  a 
moment  on  his  leading  peculiarities. 

"(i)  He  had  a  luminous  simplicity,  which  gave  his 
speeches  the  most  absolute  unity  of  impression,  however 
irregular  might  be  their  arrangement.  No  man  ever  kept 
the  great  points  of  his  case  more  steadily  and  vividly  before 
the  minds  of  his  audience. 

ts  (2)  He  took  everything  in  the  concrete.  If  he  dis- 
cussed principles,  it  was  always  in  direct  connection  with 
the  subject  before  him.  Usually,  however,  he  did  not  even 
discuss  a  subject — he  grappled  with  an  antagonist.  Noth- 
ing gives  such  life  and  interest  to  a  speech,  or  so  delights  an 
audience,  as  a  direct  contest  of  man  with  man. 

"(3)  He  struck  instantly  at  the  heart  of  his  subject.  He 
was  eager  to  meet  his  opponent  at  once  on  the  real  points 
at  issue ;  and  the  moment  of  his  greatest  power  was 
when  he  stated  the  argument  against  himself,  with  more 
force  than  his  adversary  or  any  other  man  could  give  it,  and 
then  seized  it  with  the  hand  of  a  giant,  tore  it  to  pieces,  and 
trampled  it  under  foot. 

"  (4)  His  mode  of  enforcing  a  subject  on  the  minds  of  his 
audience  was  to  come  back  again  and  again  to  the  strong 
points  of  his  case.  Mr.  Pitt  amplified  when  he  wished  to  im- 
press ;  Mr.  Fox  repeated.  Demosthenes  also  repeated,  but 
he  had  more  adroitness  in  varying  the  mode  of  doing  it. 

"(5)  He  had  rarely  any  preconceived  method  or  arrange- 
ment of  his  thoughts.  This  was  one  of  his  greatest  faults, 
in  which  he  differed  most  from  the  Athenian  artist.  If  it 
had  not  been  for  the  unity  of  impression  and  feeling  men- 
tioned above,  his  strength  would  have  been  wasted  in  discon- 
nected efforts. 

"  (6)  Reasoning  was  his  forte  and  his  passion.  But  he 
was  not  a  regular  reasoner.  In  his  eagerness  to  press  for- 
ward, he  threw  away  everything  he  could  part  with,  and 
compacted  the  rest  into  a  single  mass.  Facts,  principles, 
analogies,  were  all  wrought  together  like  the  strands  of  a 
cable,  and  intermingled  with  wit,  ridicule,  or  impassioned 
feeling.  His  arguments  were  usually  personal  in  their 


126  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


nature,  ad  homincm,  etc.,  and  were  brought  home  to  his  an- 
tagonist with  stinging  severity  and  force. 

"(/)  He  abounded  in  hits — those  abrupt  and  startling 
turns  of  thought  which  rouse  an  audience  and  give  them 
more  delight  than  the  loftiest  strains  of  eloquence. 

"  (8)  He  was  equally  distinguished  for  his  side  blows,  for 
keen  and  pungent  remarks  flashed  out  upon  his  antagonist 
in  passing  as  he  pressed  on  with  his  argument. 

"  (9)  He  was  often  dramatic,  personating  the  character 
of  his  opponents  or  others,  and  carrying  on  a  dialogue  be- 
tween them,  which  added  greatly  to  the  liveliness  and 
force  of  his  oratory. 

"  (10)  He  had  astonishing  dexterity  in  evading  difficul- 
ties, and  turning  to  his  own  advantage  everything  that  oc- 
curred in  debate. 

"  In  nearly  all  these  qualities  he  had  a  close  resemblance 
to  Demosthenes. 

"  In  his  language  Mr.  Fox  studied  simplicity,  strength,  and 
boldness.  '  Give  me  an  elegant  Latin  and  a  homely  Saxon 
word/  said  he,  '  and  I  will  always  choose  the  latter/  Another 
of  his  sayings  was  this.  '  Did  the  speech  read  well  when 
reported  ?  If  so  it  was  a  bad  one.'  These  two  remarks  give 
us  the  secret  of  his  style  as  an  orator. 

"  The  life  of  Mr.  Fox  has  this  lesson  for  young  men,  that 
early  habits  of  recklessness  and  vice  can  hardly  fail  to  destroy 
the  influence  of  the  most  splendid  abilities  and  the  most 
humane  and  generous  dispositions." 

Burke. — Although  men  may  differ  as  to  the  soundness  of 
Mr.  Burke's  doctrines,  or  the  purity  of  his  public  conduct,  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  he  Avas  one  of  the  most  remarkable  per- 
sons that  has  ever  lived.  He  possessed  a  fund  of  knowledge 
that  was  extensive,  and  of  .the  most  various  description.  He 
was  well  acquainted  with  human  nature.  His  vast  store  of 
information  was  always  available  for  the  purpose  of  illus- 
trating his  subject  or  enriching  his  diction.  Consequently 
his  speeches  and  writings  show  that  he  was  a  great  reasoner 
and  a  great  teacher,  to  whom  all  branches  of  knowledge  were 
familiar. 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IX  ENGLAND.  1 2/ 


One  of  Burke's  critics,  after  saying  that  he  was  a  writer  of 
the  first  class,  and  excelled  in  almost  every  kind  of  prose 
composition,  continued  as  follows :  "  The  kinds  of  com- 
position are  various  and  he  excels  in  them  all,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  two,  the  very  highest,  given  but  to  few,  and  when 
given,  almost  always  possessed  alone — fierce,  nervous,  over- 
whelming declamation,  and  close,  rapid  argument.  Every 
other  he  uses  easily,  abundantly,  and  successfully.  .  .  . 

"  As  in  the  various  kinds  of  writing,  so  in  the  different 
styles,  he  had  an  almost  universal  excellence,  one  only  being 
deficient — the  plain  and  unadorned." 

Mr.  Burke  fully  entered  on  his  political  career  in  1765, 
when  he  obtained  a  seat  in  parliament  as  member  for  Wen- 
dover.  He  entered  parliament  at  an  eventful  period  in 
English  history — when  American  taxation  was  the  most 
important  topic  under  discussion. 

In  January,  1766,  Mr.  Burke  made  his  maiden  speech  on 
the  Stamp  Act.  It  was  one  of  great  power  and  eloquence, 
and  wras  completely  successful,  and  it  placed  him  at  once 
among  the  greatest  orators  of  the  age.  Dr.  Johnson  said 
that  probably  no  man  at  his  first  appearance  ever  obtained 
so  much  reputation  before.  Lord  Chatham,  who  followed 
in  a  speech  on  the  same  subject,  commenced  by  saying,  that 
the  young  member  had  proved  a  very  able  advocate.  He 
had  himself  intended  to  enter  at  length  into  the  details,  but 
he  had  been  anticipated  with  such  ingenuity  and  eloquence, 
that  there  was  but  little  left  for  him  to  say.  He  congratu- 
lated him  on  his  success,  and  his  friends  on  the  value  of  the 
acquisition  they  had  made.  Such  an  encomium  from  Lord 
Chatham  gave  Burke  at  once  a  high  reputation  in  the  House 
of  Commons. 

The  three  great  subjects  to  which  Mr.  Burke  gave  greatest 
attention  in  the  house  were  those  relating  to  America, 
India,  and  France. 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  his  delivery  was  so  poor — 
being  ungraceful  and  inelegant  in  the  highest  degree — Mr. 
Burke  is  ranked  among  the  greatest  English  orators.  One 
writer  says  :  "  The  variety  and  extent  of  his  powers  in  de- 


128  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


bate  was  greater  than  that  of  any  other  orator  in  ancient  or 
modern  times.  No  one  ever  poured  forth  such  a  flood  of 
thought ;  so  many  original  combinations  of  inventive  genius  ; 
so  much  knowledge  of  man  and  the  working  of  political  sys- 
tems ;  so  many  just  remarks  on  the  relation  of  government 
to  the  manners,  the  spirit,  and  even  the  prejudices  of  a 
people  ;  so  many  wise  maxims  as  to  a  change  in  constitution 
and  laws  ;  so  many  beautiful  effusions  of  lofty  and  generous 
sentiments  ;  such  exuberant  stores  of  illustration,  ornament, 
and  apt  allusion  ;  all  intermingled  with  the  liveliest  sallies  of 
wit  or  the  boldest  flights  of  a  sublime  imagination." 

Mr.  Goodrich  says :  "  As  an  orator  Burke  derived  little  or 
no  advantage  from  his  personal  qualifications.  He  was  tall, 
but  not  robust ;  his  gait  and  gesture  were  awkward  ;  his 
countenance,  though  intellectual,  was  destitute  of  softness, 
and  rarely  relaxed  into  a  smile ;  and  as  he  always  wore 
spectacles,  his  eye  gave  him  no  command  over  an  audience." 

Undoubtedly,  the  extent  of  Mr.  Burke's  knowledge,  the 
beauty  of  his  imagery,  the  richness,  variety,  and  brilliancy 
of  his  oratory,  were  wonderful. 

Sir  N.  W.  Wraxall,  a  parliamentary  contemporary,  thus 
writes  of  him : 

"  Nature  had  bestowed  on  him  a  boundless  imagination, 
aided  by  a  memory  of  equal  strength  and  tenacity.  His 
fancy  was  so  vivid,  that  it  seemed  to  light  up  by  its  own 
powers,  and  to  burn  without  consuming  the  element  on 
which  it  fed  ;  sometimes  bearing  him  away  into  ideal  scenes 
created  by  his  own  exuberant  mind,  but  from  which  he, 
sooner  or  later,  returned  to  the  subject  of  debate ;  descend- 
ing from  his  most  aerial  flights  by  a  gentle  and  impercepti- 
ble gradation,  till  he  again  touched  the  ground.  Learning 
waited  on  him  like  a  handmaid,  presenting  to  his  choice  all 
that  antiquity  'has  culled  or  invented,  most  elucidatory  of 
the  topic  under  discussion.  He  always  seemed  to  be  op- 
pressed under  the  load  and  variety  of  his  intellectual  treas- 
ures. Every  power  of  oratory  was  wielded  by  him  in  turn  ; 
for  he  could  be  during  the  same  evening,  often  within  the 
space  of  a  few  minutes,  pathetic  and  humorous  ;  acrimoni- 


OR  A  TOR  Y  SAT  ENGLAND.  1 29 


ous  and  conciliating;  now  giving  loose  to  his  indignation  or 
severity  ;  and  then,  almost  in  the  same  breath,  calling  to  his 
assistance  wit  and  ridicule.  It  would  be  endless  to  cite  in- 
stances of  this  versatility  of  disposition,  and  of  the  rapidity 
of  his  transitions 

*  From  grave  to  gay,  from  lively  to  severe,' 

that  I  have  myself  witnessed." 

Edward  Burke,  in  his  person,  was  about  five  feet  ten 
inches  high,  erect  and  well-formed.  His  countenance  was 
frank  and  open,  and,  except  by  an  occasional  bend  of  his 
brow,  caused  by  his  being  near-sighted,  indicated  none  of 
those  great  traits  of  mind,  which  he  was  otherwise  well  known 
to  possess. 

The  richness  of  his  mind  illustrated  every  subject  he  spoke 
or  wrote  upon.  In  conversing  with  him  he  attracted  by  his 
novelty,  variety,  and  research  ;  in  parting  from  him,  strangers 
and  friends  alike  involuntarily  exclaimed  :  "  What  an  extra- 
ordinary man."  As  an  orator,  though  not  so  grand  and 
commanding  in  his  manner  as  Lord  Chatham,  yet  he  had  ex- 
cellencies that  gave  him  great  influence  in  the  senate.  His 
prolixity  and  irritability,  however,  lessened  his  usefulness. 

He  was  often  interrupted  while  he  spoke,  and  some  mem- 
bers made  a  point  of  laughing,  beating  the  ground  with 
their  feet,  and  even  hooting.  The  dignity  of  conscious 
superiority  ought  to  have  rendered  Burke  indifferent  to 
such  disturbances.  Instead  of  indifference,  however,  he  fell 
into  the  most  outrageous  fits  of  passion,  and  once  told  them, 
that  he  could  discipline  a  pack  of  hounds  to  yelp  with  much 
more  melody  and  equal  comprehension. 

Unaccustomed  to  dissipation,  he  devoted  to  reading  and 
conversation  those  hours  which  were  not  employed  in  par- 
liamentary duty,  in  exercise,  or  in  the  discharge  of  the  duties 
incident  to  private  life.  He  generally  read  with  a  pen  in  his 
hand  to  make  notes,  though  his  memory  was  wonderfully 
retentive. 

As  a  writer  he  deserves  a  high  rank,  and  judging  him  from 


I3O  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


his  earliest  to  his  latest  productions,  he  must  be  considered 
as  one  of  those  prodigies  which  are  sometimes  given  to  the 
world  to  be  admired,  but  cannot  be  imitated.  He  believed 
firmly  in  the  Christian  religion,  and  exercised  its  principles 
in  its  duties,  wisely  considering,  "  that  whatever  disunites 
man  from  God,  disunites  man  from  man." 

He  looked  within  himself  for  the  regulation  of  his  con- 
duct, which  was  exemplary  in  all  the  relations  of  life  ;  he 
was  warm  in  his  affections,  simple  in  his  manners,  and  free 
from  the  follies  and  dissipations  of  the  times  in  which  he 
lived. 

Speaking  on  American  affairs,  but  with  special  reference 
to  magnanimity  in  politics,  in  1775,  Burke  said  : 

"A  revenue  for  America,  transmitted  hither?  Do  not 
delude  yourselves  !  You  never  can  receive  it — no,  not  a 
shilling!  Let  the  Colonies  always  keep  the  idea  of  their 
civil  rights  associated  with  your  government,  and  they  will 
cling  and  grapple  to  you.  These  are  ties  which,  though 
light  as  air,  are  strong  as  links  of  iron.  But  let  it  once  be 
understood  that  your  government  may  be  one  thing  and 
their  privileges  another, — the  cement  is  gone,  the  cohesion 
is  loosened  !  Do  not  entertain  so  weak  an  imagination  as 
that  your  registers  and  your  bonds,  your  affidavits  and  your 
sufferances,  your  cockets  and  your  clearances,  are  what 
form  the  great  securities  of  your  commerce.  These  things 
do  not  make  your  government.  Dead  instruments,  passive 
tools,  as  they  are,  it  is  the  spirit  of  the  English  communion 
that  gives  all  their  life  and  efficacy  to  them.  It  is  the  spirit 
of  the  English  Constitution  which,  infused  through  the 
mighty  mass,  pervades,  feeds,  unites,  invigorates,  vivifies, 
every  part  of  the  Empire,  even  down  to  the  minutest 
member. 

"  Do  you  imagine  that  it  is  the  land  tax  which  raises  your 
revenue  ?  that  it  is  the  annual  vote  in  the  committee  of 
supply  which  gives  you  your  army  ?  or  that  it  is  the  mutiny 
bill  which  inspires  it  with  bravery  and  discipline  ?  No  ! 
Surely  no  !  It  is  the  love  of  the  people  ;  it  is  their  attach- 
ment to  their  government  from  the  sense  of  the  deep  stake 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  ENGLAND.  1 3 1 


they  have  in  such  a  glorious  institution,  which  gives  you 
your  army  and  your  navy,  and  infuses  into  both  that  liberal 
obedience,  without  which  your  army  would  be  a  base  rabble, 
and  your  navy  nothing  but  rotten  timber. 

"  All  this,  I  know  well  enough,  will  sound  wild  and  chi- 
merical to  the  profane  herd  of  those  vulgar  and  mechanical 
politicians,  who  have  no  place  among  us ;  a  sort  of  people 
who  think  that  nothing  exists  but  what  is  gross  and  material ; 
and  who,  therefore,  far  from  being  qualified  to  be  directors 
of  the  great  movement  of  empire,  are  not  fit  to  turn  a  wheel 
in  the  machine.  But,  to  men  truly  initiated  and  rightly 
taught,  these  ruling  and  master  principles,  which,  in  the 
opinion  of  such  men  as  I  have  mentioned,  have  no  substan- 
tial existence,  are,  in  truth,  everything,  and  all  in  all. 
Magnanimity  in  politics  is  not  seldom  the  truest  wisdom ; 
and  a  great  empire  and  little  minds  go  ill  together.  Let  us 
get  an  American  revenue,  as  we  have  got  an  American  em- 
pire. English  privileges  have  made  it  all  that  it  is  ;  English 
privileges  alone  will  make  it  all  it  can  be !  " 

Referring  to  American  taxation,  Mr.  Burke  said  : 
"  Could  anything  be  a  subject  of  more  just  alarm  to 
America,  than  to  see  you  go  out  of  the  plain  highroad  of 
finance,  and  give  up  your  most  certain  revenues  and  your 
clearest  interests,  merely  for  the  sake  of  insulting  your  col- 
onies ?  No  man  ever  doubted  that  the  commodity  of  tea 
could  bear  an  imposition  of  three-pence.  But  no  commodity 
will  bear  three-pence,  or  will  bear  a  penny,  when  the  general 
feelings  of  men  are  irritated,  and  two  millions  of  men  are 
resolved  not  to  pay.  The  feelings  of  the  colonies  were 
formerly  the  feelings  of  Great  Britain.  Theirs  were  formerly 
the  feelings  of  Mr.  Hampden,  when  called  upon  for  the  pay- 
ment of  twenty  shillings.  Would  twenty  shillings  have 
ruined  Mr.  Hampden's  fortune  ?  No  !  but  the  payment  of 
half  twenty  shillings,  on  the  principle  it  was  demanded, 
would  have  made  him  a  slave !  It  is  the  weight  of  that 
preamble,  of  which  you  are  so  fond,  and  not  the  weight  of 
the  duty,  that  the  Americans  are  unable  and  unwilling  to 
bear.  You  are,  therefore,  at  this  moment,  in  the  awkward 


132  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


situation  of  fighting  for  a  phantom  ;  a  quiddity  ;  a  thing 
that  wants,  not  only  a  substance,  but  even  a  name  ;  for  a 
thing  which  is  neither  abstract  right,  nor  profitable  enjoy- 
ment. 

"  They  tell  you,  sir,  that  your  dignity  is  tied  to  it.  I 
know  not  how  it  happens,  but  this  dignity  of  yours  is  a 
terrible  incumbrance  to  you  ;  for  it  has  of  late  been  ever  at 
war  with  your  interest,  your  equity,  and  every  idea  of  your 
policy.  Show  the  thing  you  contend  for  to  be  reason,  show 
it  to  be  common  sense,  show  it  to  be  the  means  of  obtain- 
ing some  useful  end,  and  then  I  am  content  to  allow  it  what 
dignity  you  please.  But  what  dignity  is  derived  from  the 
perseverance  in  absurdity,  is  more  than  I  ever  could  discern  ! 
Let  us,  sir,  embrace  some  system  or  other  before  we  end 
this  session.  Do  you  mean  to  tax  America,  and  to  draw  a 
protective  revenue  from  thence  ?  If  you  do,  speak  out : 
name,  fix,  ascertain  this  revenue  ;  settle  its  quantity  ;  define 
its  objects  ;  provide  for  its  collection  ;  and  then  fight,  when 
you  have  something  to  fight  for.  If  you  murder,  rob ;  if 
you  kill,  take  possession :  and  do  not  appear  in  the  charac- 
ter of  madmen,  as  well  as  assassins, — violent,  vindictive, 
bloody,  and  tyrannical,  without  an  object.  But  may  better 
counsels  guide  you  !  " 

Speaking  of  the  incompatibility  of  despotism  with  right 
in  the  trial  of  Mr.  Hastings,  in  1788,  Mr.  Burke  said : 

"  My  lords,  you  have  now  heard  the  principles  on  which 
Mr.  Hastings  governs  the  part  of  Asia  subjected  to  the 
British  Empire.  Here  he  has  declared  his  opinion,  that  he 
is  a  despotic  prince  ;  that  he  is  to  use  arbitrary  power ;  and, 
of  course,  all  his  acts  are  covered  with  that  shield.  *  I  know, 
says  he,  '  the  Constitution  of  Asia  only  from  its  practice.' 
Will  your  lordships  submit  to  hear  the  corrupt  practices  of 
mankind  made  the  principles  of  government  ?  He  have 
arbitrary  power! — My  lords,  the  East-India  Company  have 
not  arbitrary  power  to  give  him ;  the  king  has  no  arbitrary 
power  to  give  him ;  your  lordships  have  not ;  nor  the 
Commons  ;  nor  the  whole  legislature.  We  have  no  arbi- 
trary power  to  give,  because  arbitrary  power  is  a  thing 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  133 


which  neither  any  man  can  hold  nor  any  man  can  give. 
No  man  can  lawfully  govern  himself  according  to  his  own 
will, — much  less  can  one  person  be  governed  by  the  will  of 
another.  We  are  all  born  in  subjection, — all  born  equally, 
high  and  low,  governors  and  governed,  in  subjection  to  one 
great,  immutable,  pre-existent  law,  prior  to  all  our  devices, 
and  prior  to  all  our  contrivances,  paramount  to  all  our  ideas 
and  to  all  our  sensations,  antecedent  to  our  very  existence, 
by  which  we  are  knit  and  connected  in  tjie  eternal  frame  of 
the  universe,  out  of  which  we  cannot  stir. 

"  This  great  law  does  not  arise  from  our  conventions  or 
compacts ;  on  the  contrary,  it  gives  to  our  conventions  and 
compacts  all  the  force  and  sanction  they  can  have  ; — it  does 
not  arise  from  our  vain  institutions.  Every  good  gift  is  of 
God ;  all  power  is  of  God  ; — and  he  who  has  given  the 
power,  and  from  whom  alone  it  originates,  will  never  suffer 
the  exercise  of  it  to  be  practised  upon  any  less  solid  founda- 
tion than  the  power  itself.  If,  then,  all  dominion  of  man 
over  man  is  the  effect  of  the  divine  disposition,  it  is  bound 
by  the  eternal  laws  of  him  that  gave  it,  with  which  no 
human  authority  can  dispense  ;  neither  he  that  exercises  it, 
nor  even  those  who  are  subject  to  it ;  and,  if  they  were  mad 
enough  to  make  an  express  compact,  that  should  release 
their  magistrate  from  his  duty,  and  should  declare  their 
lives,  liberties,  properties,  dependent  upon,  not  rules  and 
laws,  but  his  mere  capricious  will,  that  covenant  would  be 
void. 

"  This  arbitrary  power  is  not  to  be  had  by  conquest.  Nor 
can  any  sovereign  have  it  by  succession  ;  for  no  man  can 
succeed  to  fraud,  rapine,  and  violence.  Those  who  give  and 
those  who  receive  arbitrary  power  are  alike  criminal ;  and 
there  is  no  man  but  is  bound  to  resist  it  to  the  best  of  his 
power,  wherever  it  shall  show  its  face  to  the  world. 

"  Law  and  arbitrary  power  are  in  eternal  enmity.  Name 
me  a  magistrate,  and  I  will  name  property  ;  name  me  power, 
and  I  will  name  protection.  It  is  a  contradiction  in  terms, 
it  is  blasphemy  in  religion,  it  is  wickedness  in  politics,  to  say 
that  any  man  can  have  arbitrary  power.  In  every  patent  of 


134  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY, 


office  the  duty  is  included.  For  what  else  does  a  magistrate 
exist  ?  To  suppose  for  power,  is  an  absurdity  in  idea. 
Judges  are  guided  and  governed  by  the  eternal  laws  of  jus- 
tice, to  which  we  are  all  subject.  We  may  bite  our  chains, 
if  we  will ;  but  we  shall  be  made  to  know  ourselves,  and  be 
taught  that  man  is  born  to  be  governed  by  law  ;  and  he  that 
will  substitute  will  in  the  place  of  it  is  an  enemy  to  God." 

Mr.  Burke  said  on  the  impeachment  of  Mr.  Hastings,  in 
part :  » 

"  My  lords,  I  do  not  mean  now  to  go  further  than  just 
to  remind  your  lordships  of  this, — that  Mr.  Hastings's  gov- 
ernment was  one  whole  system  of  oppression,  of  robbery  of 
individuals,  of  spoliation  of  the  public,  and  of  supersession 
of  the  whole  system  of  the  English  government,  in  order 
to  vest  in  the  worst  of  the  natives  all  the  power  that  could 
possibly  exist  in  any  government ;  in  order  to  defeat  the 
ends  which  all  governments  ought,  in  common,  to  have  in 
view.  In  the  name  of  the  Commons  of  England,  I  charge 
all  this  villainy  upon  Warren  Hastings,  in  this  last  moment 
of  my  application  to  you. 

"  My  lords,  what  is  it  that  we  want  here,  to  a  great  act  of 
national  justice?  Do  we  want  a  cause,  my  lords?  You 
have  the  cause  of  oppressed  princes,  of  undone  women  of  the 
first  rank,  of  desolated  provinces,  and  of  wrasted  kingdoms. 

"  Do  you  want  a  criminal,  my  lords  ?  When  was  there  so 
much  iniquity  ever  laid  to  the  charge  of  any  one? — No,  my 
Lords,  you  must  not  look  to  punish  any  other  such  delin- 
quent from  India.  Warren  Hastings  has  not  left  substance 
enough  in  India  to  nourish  such  another  delinquent. 

"  My  lords,  is  it  a  prosecutor  you  want  ?  You  have  before 
you  the  Commons  of  Great  Britain  as  prosecutors ;  and  I 
believe,  my  lords,  that  the  sun,  in  his  beneficent  progress 
round  the  world,  does  not  behold  a  more  glorious  sight  than 
that  of  men,  separated  from  a  remote  people  by  the  material 
bonds  and  barriers  of  nature,  united  by  the  bonds  of  a  social 
and  moral  community  ; — all  the  Commons  of  England  re- 
senting, as  their  own,  the  indignities  and  cruelties  that  are 
offered  to  the  people  of  India. 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  ENGLAND.  135 


"  Do  we  want  a  tribunal  ?  My  lords,  no  example  of  an- 
tiquity, nothing  in  the  modern  world,  nothing  in  the  range 
of  human  imagination,  can  supply  us  with  a  tribunal  like 
this.  We  commit  safely  the  interests  of  India  and  humanity 
into  your  hands.  Therefore,  it  is  with  confidence  that, 
ordered  by  the  Commons, 

"  I  impeach  Warren  Hastings,  Esquire,  of  high  crimes  and 
misdemeanours. 

"  I  impeach  him  in  the  name  of  the  Commons  of  Great 
Britain  in  parliament  assembled,  whose  parliamentary  trust 
he  has  betrayed. 

u  I  impeach  him  in  the  name  of  all  the  Commons  of  Great 
Britain,  whose  national  character  he  has  dishonoured. 

"  I  impeach  him  in  the  name  of  the  people  of  India,  whose 
laws,  rights,  and  liberties  he  has  subverted  ;  whose  proper- 
ties he  has  destroyed  ;  whose  country  he  has  laid  waste 
and  desolate. 

"  I  impeach  him  in  the  name  and  by  virtue  of  those  eternal 
laws  of  justice  which  he  has  violated. 

"  I  impeach  him  in  the  name  of  human  nature  itself,  which 
he  has  cruelly  outraged,  injured,  and  oppressed,  in  both 
sexes,  in  every  age,  rank,  situation,  and  condition  of  life.'* 

The  peroration  of  Mr.  Burke's  speech  against  Hastings 
was  as  follows : 

"  My  lords,  at  this  awful  close,  in  the  name  of  the  Com- 
mons, and  surrounded  by  them,  I  attest  the  retiring,  I  attest 
the  advancing  generations,  between  which,  as  a  link  in  the 
great  chain  of  eternal  order,  we  stand.  We  call  this  nation, 
we  call  the  world  to  witness,  that  the  Commons  have  shrunk 
from  no  labour ;  that  we  have  been  guilty  of  no  prevarica- 
tion ;  that  we  have  made  no  compromise  with  crime ;  that 
we  have  not  feared  any  odium  whatsoever,  in  the  long  war- 
fare which  we  have  carried  on  with  the  crimes,  with  the 
vices,  with  the  exorbitant  wealth,  with  the  enormous  and 
overpowering  influence  of  Eastern  corruption. 

"  My  lords,  it  has  pleased  Providence  to  place  us  in  such 
a  state  that  we  appear  every  moment  to  be  upon  the  verge 
of  some  great  mutations.  There  is  one  thing,  and  one  thing 


136  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 

only,  which  defies  all  mutation  :  that  which  existed  before 
the  world,  and  will  survive  the  fabric  of  the  world  itself, — 
I  mean  justice  ;  that  justice  which,  emanating  from  the 
Divinity,  has  a  place  in  the  breast  of  every  one  of  us,  given 
us  for  our  guide  with  regard  to  ourselves  and  with  regard  to 
others,  and  which  will  stand,  after  this  globe  is  burned  to 
ashes,  our  advocate  or  our  accuser,  before  the  great  Judge, 
when  He  comes  to  call  upon  us  for  the  tenor  of  a  well-spent 
life. 

"  My  lords,  the  Commons  will  share  in  every  fate  with 
your  lordships  ;  there  is  nothing  sinister  which  can  happen 
to  you,  in  which  we  shall  not  all  be  involved  ;  and,  if  it 
should  so  happen  that  we  shall  be  subjected  to  some  of 
those  frightful  changes  which  we  have  seen, — if  it  should 
happen  that  your  lordships,  stripped  of  all  the  decorous  dis- 
tinctions of  human  society,  should,  by  hands  at  once  base 
and  cruel,  be  led  to  those  scaffolds  and  machines  of  murder 
upon  which  great  kings  and  glorious  queens  have  shed  their 
blood,  amidst  the  prelates,  amidst  the  nobles,  amidst  the 
magistrates,  who  supported  their  thrones, — may  you  in  those 
moments  feel  that  consolation  which  I  am  persuaded  they 
felt  in  the  critical  moments  of  their  dreadful  agony  ! 

"  My  lords,  if  you  must  fall,  may  you  so  fall !  but,  if  you 
stand, — and  stand  I  trust  you  will, — together  with  the  for- 
tune of  this  ancient  monarchy,  together  with  the  ancient 
laws  and  liberties  of  this  great  and  illustrious  kingdom,  may 
you  stand  as  unimpeached  in  honour  as  in  power  ;  may  you 
stand,  not  as  a  substitute  for  virtue,  but  as  an  ornament  of 
virtue,  as  a  security  of  virtue  ;  may  you  stand  long,  and  long 
stand  the  terror  of  tyrants  ;  may  you  stand  the  refuge  of  the 
afflicted  nations ;  may  you  stand  a  sacred  temple,  for  the 
perpetual  residence  of  an  inviolable  justice !  " 

Henry  Grattan. — Henry  Grattan  was  born  at  Dublin  on 
the  3d  of  July,  1746.  He  entered  Trinity  College,  Dublin, 
where  he  soon  became  noted  for  his  diligence  as  a  student, 
for  the  impetuosity  of  his  feelings,  and  for  the  energy  of  his 
character.  He  graduated  in  1767,  with  a  high  literary  repu- 
tation, and  soon  after  went  to  London  and  commenced  the 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  ENGLAND.  1 37 


study  of  the  law.  He  had  not  been  there  long  before 
politics  began  to  engage  his  attention.  He  frequently  at- 
tended the  debates  in  parliament,  and  became  an  ardent 
admirer  of  Lord  Chatham — then  in  the  zenith  of  his  fame. 

The  powerful  oratory  of  this  great  statesman  made  a  deep 
impression  on  the  glowing  mind  of  young  Grattan,  who 
listened  with  indescribable  pleasure  to  those  magnificent 
bursts  of  declamation  which  rolled  from  the  lips  of  the 
orator. 

The  eloquence  of  Chatham,  bold,  nervous,  and  fiery,  was 
exactly  suited  to  the  nature  of  Grattan,  upon  whom  it'acted 
with  such  fascination  as  seemed  completely  to  form  his 
destiny.  It  is  said  that  he  now  determined  to  become  an 
orator  and  chose  Lord  Chatham  as  his  model.  "  Everything 
was  forgotten  in  the  one  great  object  of  cultivating  his 
powers  as  a  public  speaker.  To  emulate  and  express, 
through  the  peculiar  forms  of  his  own  genius,  the  lofty 
conceptions  of  the  great  English  orator,  was  from  this  time 
the  object  of  his  continual  study  and  most  fervent  aspira- 
tions." 

"  Even  in  those  early  days  Grattan  -was  preparing  sedu- 
lously for  his  future  destination.  He  had  taken  a  residence 
near  Windsor  Forest,  and  there  it  was  his  custom  to  rove 
about  moonlight  nights,  addressing  the  trees  as  if  they  were 
an  audience.  His  landlady  took  such  manifestations  much 
to  heart.  '  What  a  sad  thing  it  was,'  she  would  say,  *  to  see 
the  poor  young  gentleman  all  day  talking  to  somebody  he 
calls  Mr.  Speaker,  when  there  is  no  speaker  in  the  house  ex- 
cept himself ! '  Her  mind  was  completely  made  up  upon 
the  subject.' 

Mr.  Grattan  returned  to  Ireland  in  1772,  and  became  a 
member  of  the  Irish  parliament,  in  1775. 

The  complete  independence  of  his  country  was  the  one 
great  object  which  he  had  in  view,  during  his  brilliant  politi- 
cal career. 

Ireland  had  been  long  treated  by  the  English  like  a 
conquered  nation.  During  the  reign  of  George  I.,  an  act 
was  passed,  asserting,  "  that  Ireland  was  a  subordinate  and 


138  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


dependent  kingdom  ; — that  the  Kings,  Lords,  and  Commons 
of  England  had  power  to  make  laws  to  bind  Ireland  ;  that 
the  Irish  House  of  Lords  had  no  jurisdiction,  and  that  all 
proceedings  before  that  court  were  void." 

Mr.  Grattan  determined  that  the  parliament  of  his  country 
should  be  free  if  it  was  in  his  power  to  break  the  chains 
thrown  around  her.  He  resolved  to  effect  the  repeal  of  this 
act.  Accordingly  on  the  iQth  of  April,  1780,  he  made  his 
memorable  motion  for  a  Declaration  of  Irish  Right,  which 
denied  the  authority  of  the  British  parliament  to  make  laws 
for  Ireland.  Mr.  Grattan  was  cheered  on  in  taking  this  bold 
step  by  the  whole  body  of  the  Irish  nation.  It  is  said  that 
the  speech  which  he  delivered  on  that  occasion  in  support 
of  his  motion  "  was  the  most  splendid  piece  of  eloquence 
that  had  ever  been  heard  in  Ireland."  The  orator  himself 
always  thought  it  his  finest  oratorical  effort.  Says  Professor 
Goodrich  :  "  As  a  specimen  of  condensed  and  fervid  argumen- 
tation, it  indicates  a  high  order  of  talent ;  while  in  brilliancy 
of  style,  pungency  of  application,  and  impassioned  vehemence 
of  spirit,  it  has  rarely,  if  ever,  been  surpassed.  The  conclu- 
sion, especially,  is  one  of  the  most  magnificent  passages  in 
our  eloquence."  Mr.  Grattan  thus  finished  his  speech  in  the 
boldest  tone : 

"  I  might,  as  a  constituent,  come  to  your  bar  and  demand 
my  liberty.  I  do  call  upon  you  by  the  laws  of  the  land, 
and  their  violation  ;  by  the  instructions  of  eighteen  cen- 
turies ;  by  the  arms,  inspiration,  and  providence  of  the 
present  movement — tell  us  the  rule  by  which  we  shall  go  ; 
assert  the  law  of  Ireland  ;  declare  the  liberty  of  the  land  !  I 
will  not  be  answered  by  a  public  lie,  in  the  shape  of  an 
amendment ;  nor,  speaking  for  the  subject's  freedom,  am  I 
to  hear  of  faction.  I  wish  for  nothing  but  to  breathe  in  this 
our  island,  in  common  with  my  fellow-subjects,  the  air  of 
liberty.  I  have  no  ambition,  unless  it  be  to  break  your  chain 
and  contemplate  your  glory.  I  never  will  be  satisfied  so 
long  as  the  meanest  cottager  in  Ireland  has  a  link  of  the 
British  chain  clanking  to  his  rags.  He  may  be  naked,  he 
shall  not  be  in  irons.  And  I  do  see  the  time  at  hand  ;  the 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  139 


spirit  has  gone  forth  ;  the  Declaration  of  Right  is  planted 
and  though  great  men  should  fall  off,  the  cause  will  live ; 
and  though  he  who  utters  this  should  die,  yet  the  immortal 
fire  shall  outlast  the  organ  that  conveys  it,  and  the  breath 
of  liberty,  like  the  word  of  the  holy  man,  will  not  die 
with  the  prophet,  but  survive  him." 

Professor  Goodrich  says  :  "  The  reader  will  be  interested 
to  observe  the  rhythmus  of  the  last  three  paragraphs,  so  slow 
and  dignified  in  its  movement ;  so  weighty  as  it  falls  on  the 
ear;  so  perfectly  adapted  to  the  sentiments  expressed  in 
this  magnificent  passage.  The  effect  will  be  heightened  by 
comparing  it  with  the  rapid  and  iambic  movement  of  the 
passage  containing  Mr.  Erskine's  description  of  the  Indian 
chief." 

Mr.  Grattan's  motion  did  not  pass  at  that  time ;  but  not- 
withstanding his  temporary  defeat,  he  never  faltered  for  a 
moment :  he  ever  kept  his  eye  fixed  on  parliamentary 
emancipation.  Mr.  Grattan  availed  himself  of  the  general 
enthusiasm  for  liberty  which  prevailed  in  Ireland,  and 
mainly  by  his  efforts  the  Irish  Revolution  of  1782  was 
carried,  thus  achieving,  to  use  the  language  of  Lord 
Brougham,  a  victory  "  which  stands  at  the  head  of  all  the 
triumphs  ever  won  by  a  patriot  for  his  country  in  modern 
times ;  he  had  effected  an  important  revolution  in  the  gov- 
ernment without  violence  of  any  kind,  and  had  broken 
chains  of  the  most  degrading  kind  by  which  the  injustice 
and  usurpation  of  three  centuries  had  bowed  her  down." 

While  his  countrymen  were  armed,  ready  for  open  rebellion, 
on  the  1 6th  of  April,  1782,  Mr.  Grattan  repeated  his  motion 
in  the  Irish  House  of  Commons  for  a  Declaration  of  Irish 
Right.  His  speech  on  that  occasion,  it  is  said,  was  univer- 
sally admired  for  its  boldness,  sublimity,  and  compass  of 
thought.  The  untiring  efforts  of  the  orator  were  at  last 
crowned  with  complete  success.  The  grievances  of  Ireland 
were  redressed,  a  bill  repealing  the  act  of  George  I.  was 
soon  after  passed. 

Mr.  Grattan's  services  were  remunerated  by  a  grant  of 
;£  100,000  from  the  parliament  of  Ireland.  He  at  first  de- 


140  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


clined  the  reception  of  this  high  expression  of  gratitude  ;  but 
by  the  interposition  of  his  friends  he  was  subsequently  in- 
duced to  accept  one-half  of  the  amount  granted. 

Shortly  after  this  victory  Mr.  Grattan  was  led  into  a  per- 
sonal quarrel  with  Mr.  Flood,  a  rival  member  of  parliament. 
A  bitter  animosity  had  arisen  between  them  ;  and  Grattan 
having  unfortunately  led  the  way  in  personality,  by  speak- 
ing of  his  opponent's  "  affectation  of  infirmity,"  Flood 
replied  with  great  asperity,  denouncing  Grattan  as  "  a  men- 
dicant patriot,"  who,  "  bought  by  his  country  for  a  sum  of 
money,  then  sold  his  country  for  prompt  payment."  He 
also  sneered  at  Grattan's  "  aping  the  style  of  Lord  Chat- 
ham." To  these  taunts  Grattan  replied  in  a  speech,  an 
abridgment  of  which  will  be  given.  An  arrangement  for  a 
hostile  meeting  between  the  parties  was  the  consequence  of 
this  speech  ;  but  Flood  was  arrested,  and  the  crime  of  a  duel 
was  not  added  to  the  offence  of  vindictive  personality  of 
which  both  had  been  guilty.  It  is  said  that  Grattan  lived  to 
regret  his  harshness,  and  spoke  in  generous  terms  of  his  rival. 
Mr.  Grattan  said  : 

"  It  is  not  the  slander  of  an  evil  tongue  that  can  defame 
me.  I  maintain  my  reputation  in  public  and  in  private  life. 
No  man,  who  has  not  a  bad  character,  can  ever  say  that  I 
deceived.  No  country  can  call  me  a  cheat.  But  I  will  sup- 
pose such  a  public  character.  I  will  suppose  such  a  man  to 
have  existence.  I  will  begin  with  his  character  in  his  politi- 
cal cradle,  and  I  will  follow  him  to  the  last  stage  of  political 
dissolution.  I  will  suppose  him,  in  the  first  stage  of  his  life, 
to  have  been  intemperate  ;  in  the  second,  to  have  been  cor- 
rupt ;  and  in  the  last,  seditious  ; — that,  after  an  envenomed 
attack  on  the  persons  and  measures  of  a  succession  of  vice- 
roys, and  after  much  declamation  against  their  illegalities 
and  their  profusion,  he  took  office,  and  became  a  supporter 
of  government,  when  the  profusion  of  ministers  had  greatly 
increased,  and  their  crimes  multiplied  beyond  example. 

"  With  regard  to  the  liberties  of  America,  which  were  in- 
separable from  ours,  I  will  suppose  this  gentleman  to  have 
been  an  enemy  decided  and  unreserved ;  that  he  voted 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  ENGLA  ND.  1 4 1 


against  her  liberty,  and  voted,  moreover,  for  an  address  to 
send  four  thousand  Irish  troops  to  cut  the  throats  of  the 
Americans;  that  he  called  these  butchers  '  armed  negotiators', 
and  stood  with  a  metaphor  in  his  mouth  and  a  bribe  in 
his  pocket,  a  champion  against  the  rights  of  America,— of 
America,  the  only  hope  of  Ireland,  and  the  only  refuge  of 
the  liberties  of  mankind.  Thus  defective  in  every  relation- 
ship, whether  to  constitution,  commerce,  and  toleration,  I 
will  suppose  this  man  to  have  added  much  private  improbity 
to  public  crimes ;  that  his  probity  was  like  his  patriotism, 
and  his  honour  on  a  level  with  his  oath.  He  loves  to  de- 
liver panegyrics  on  himself.  I  will  interrupt  him  and  say  : 

"  Sir,  you  are  much  mistaken  if  you  think  that  your 
talents  have  been  as  great  as  your  life  has  been  reprehensi- 
ble. You  began  your  parliamentary  career  with  an  acrimony 
and  personality  which  could  have  been  justified  only  by  a 
supposition  of  virtue ;  after  a  rank  and  clamorous  opposition, 
you  became,  on  a  sudden,  silent ;  you  were  silent  for  seven 
years ;  you  were  silent  on  the  greatest  questions,  and  you 
were  silent  for  money  !  You  supported  the  unparalleled  pro- 
fusion and  jobbing  of  Lord  Harcourt's  scandalous  ministry. 
You,  sir,  who  manufacture  stage  thunder  against  Mr.  Eden 
for  his  anti-American  principles, — you,  sir,  whom  it  pleases 
to  chant  a  hymn  to  the  immortal  Hampden  ; — you,  sir,  ap- 
proved of  the  tyranny  exercised  against  America, — and  you, 
sir,  voted  four  thousand  Irish  troops  to  cut  the  throats  of 
the  Americans  fighting  for  their  freedom,  fighting  for  your 
freedom,  fighting  for  the  great  principle,  liberty  !  But  you 
found,  at  last,  that  the  court  had  bought,  but  would  not 
trust  you.  Mortified  at  the  discovery,  you  try  the  sorry 
game  of  a  trimmer  in  your  progress  to  the  acts  of  an  incen- 
diary ;  and  observing,  with  regard  to  prince  and  people,  the 
most  impartial  treachery  and  desertion,  you  justify  the  sus- 
picion of  your  sovereign  by  betraying  the  government,  as 
you  had  sold  the  people.  Such  has  been  your  conduct,  and 
at  such  conduct  every  order  of  your  fellow-subjects  have  a 
right  to  exclaim  !  The  merchant  may  say  to  you,  the  con- 
stitutionalist may  say  to  you,  the  American  may  say  to  you, 


142  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


— and  I,  I  now  say,  and  say  to  your  beard,  sir, — you  are  not 
an  honest  man  !  " 

The  invectives  of  Mr.  Grattan  were  terrible,  and  one  of  the 
most  scathing  pieces  of  this  kind  which  he  ever  pronounced 
was  that  against  Mr.  Corry,  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer, 
delivered  during  the  debate  on  the  union  of  Ireland  with 
England,  February  14,  1800.  A  duel,  in  which  Mr.  Corry 
was  wounded  in  the  arm,  was  the  sequel  to  this  speech.  The 
immediate  provocation  of  the  speech  was  a  remark  from 
Corry  that  Grattan,  instead  of  having  a  voice  in  the  councils 
of  his  country,  should  have  been  standing  as  a  culprit  at  her 
bar. 

Mr.  Grattan  said  : 

"  Has  the  gentleman  done?  Has  he  completely  done? 
He  was  unparliamentary  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of 
his  speech.  There  was  scarce  a  word  that  he  uttered  that 
was  not  a  violation  of  the  privileges  of  the  house.  But  I 
did  not  call  him  to  order.  Why?  Because  the  limited 
talents  of  some  men  render  it  impossible  for  them  to  be 
severe  without  being  unparliamentary.  But  before  I  sit 
down  I  shall  show  him  how  to  be  severe  and  parliamentary 
at  the  same  time.  On  any  other  occasion,  I  should  think 
myself  justifiable  in  treating  with  silent  contempt  anything 
which  might  fall  from  that  honourable  member ;  but  there 
are  times  when  the  insignificance  of  the  accuser  is  lost  in  the 
magnitude  of  the  accusation.  I  know  the  difficulty  the 
honourable  gentleman  laboured  under  when  he  attacked  me, 
conscious  that,  on  a  comparative  view  of  our  characters, 
public  and  private,  there  is  nothing  he  could  say  which 
would  injure  me.  The  public  would  not  believe  the  charge. 
I  despise  the  falsehood.  If  such  a  charge  were  made  by  an 
honest  man,  I  would  answer  it  in  the  manner  I  shall  do  be- 
fore I  sit  down.  But  I  shall  first  reply  to  it  when  not  made 
by  an  honest  man. 

"  The  right  honourable  gentleman  has  called  me  '  an  un- 
impeached  traitor.'  I  ask,  why  not  'traitor/  unqualified  by 
any  epithet  ?  I  will  tell  him  ;  it  was  because  he  dare  not ! 
It  was  the  act  of  a  coward,  who  raises  his  arm  to  strike,  but 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  ENGLAND.  143 


has  not  courage  to  give  the  blow  !  I  will  not  call  him  villain, 
because  it  would  be  unparliamentary,  and  he  is  a  privy  coun- 
cillor. I  will  not  call  him  fool,  because  he  happens  to  be 
Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer.  But  I  say  he  is  one  who  has 
abused  the  privilege  of  parliament  and  freedom  of  debate,  to 
the  uttering  language  which,  if  spoken  out  of  the  house,  I 
should  answer  only  with  a  blow !  I  care  not  how  high  his 
situation,  how  low  his  character,  how  contemptible  his 
speech  ;  whether  a  privy  councillor  or  a  parasite,  my  answer 
would  be  a  blow  !  He  has  charged  me  with  being  connected 
with  the  rebels.  The  charge  is  utterly,  totally,  and  meanly 
false.  Does  the  honourable  gentleman  rely  on  the  report  of 
the  House  of  Lords  for  the  foundation  of  his  assertion  ?  If 
he  does,  I  can  prove  to  the  committee  there  was  a  physical 
impossibility  of  that  report  being  true.  But  I  scorn  to 
answer  any  man  for  my  conduct,  whether  he  be  a  political 
coxcomb,  or  whether  he  brought  himself  into  power  by  a 
false  glare  of  courage  or  not. 

"  I  have  returned,  not  as  the  right  honourable  member  has 
said,  to  raise  another  storm, — I  have  returned  to  discharge 
an  honourable  debt  of  gratitude  to  my  country,  that  con- 
ferred a  great  reward  for  past  services,  which,  I  am  proud  to 
say,  was  not  greater  than  my  desert.  I  have  returned  to 
protect  that  constitution,  of  which  I  was  the  parent  and  the 
founder,  from  the  assassination  of  such  men  as  the  honour- 
able gentleman  and  his  unworthy  associates.  They  are  cor- 
rupt— they  are  seditious — and  they,  at  this  very  moment, 
are  in  a  conspiracy  against  their  country  !  I  have  returned 
to  refute  a  libel,  as  false  as  it  is  malicious,  given  to  the  pub- 
lic under  the  appellation  of  a  report  of  the  committee  of  the 
lords.  Here  I  stand  for  impeachment  or  trial !  I  dare  ac- 
cusation !  I  defy  the  honourable  gentleman  !  I  defy  the 
government !  I  defy  the  whole  phalanx ;  let  them  come 
forth  !  I  tell  the  ministers  I  shall  neither  give  them  quarter 
nor  take  it !  I  am  here  to  lay  the  shattered  remains  of  my 
constitution  on  the  floor  of  this  house,  in  defence  of  the 
liberties  of  my  country. 

"  The  right  honourable  gentleman  has  said  that  this  was 


144  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


not  my  place — that  instead  of  having  a  voice  in  the  councils 
of  my  country,  I  shall  now  stand  a  culprit  at  her  bar — at  the 
bar  of  a  court  of  criminal  judicature,  to  answer  for  my 
treasons.  The  Irish  people  have  not  so  read  my  history ; 
but  let  that  pass  ;  if  I  am  what  he  said  I  am,  the  people  are 
not  therefore  to  forfeit  their  constitution.  In  point  of  argu- 
ment, therefore,  the  attack  is  bad — in  point  of  taste  or  feeling, 
if  he  had  either,  it  is  worse — in  point  of  fact  it  is  false, 
utterly  and  absolutely  false — as  rancorous  a  falsehood  as  the 
most  malignant  motives  could  suggest  to  the  prompt  sym- 
pathy of  a  shameless  and  a  venal  defence.  The  right  hon- 
ourable gentleman  has  suggested  examples  which  I  should 
have  shunned,  and  examples  which  I  should  have  followed. 
I  shall  never  follow  his,  and  I  have  ever  avoided  it.  I  shall 
never  be  ambitious  to  purchase  public  scorn  by  private 
infamy — the  lighter  characters  of  the  model  have  as  little 
chance  of  weaning  me  from  the  habits  of  a  life  spent,  if  not 
exhausted,  in  the  cause  of  my  native  land.  Am  I  to  re- 
nounce those  habits  now  forever  and  at  the  beck  of  whom, 
I  should  rather  say  of  what — half  a  minister,  half  a  monkey 
— a  'prentice  politician,  and  a  master  coxcomb?  He  has 
told  you  that  what  he  said  of  me  here,  he  would  say  any- 
where. I  believe  he  would  say  thus  of  me  in  any  place 
where  he  thought  himself  safe  in  saying  it.  Nothing  can 
limit  his  calumnies  but  his  fears — in  parliament  he  has  ca- 
lumniated me  to-night,  in  the  king's  courts  he  would  calum- 
niate me  to-morrow ;  but  had  he  said  or  dared  to  insinuate 
one  half  as  much  elsewhere,  the  indignant  spirit  of  an 
honest  man  would  have  answered  the  vile  and  venal  slan- 
derer with — a  blow." 

Mr.  Grattan  was  always  opposed  to  the  union  of  Ireland 
with  England.  To  prevent  it  in  1800,  when  the  question 
was  discussed,  he  delivered  a  speech  of  great  ability,  from 
which  the  following  eloquent  passage  is  taken  : 

"  The  ministers  of  the  crown  will,  or  may,  perhaps,  at 
length  find  that  it  is  not  so  easy,  by  abilities  however  great, 
and  by  power  and  corruption  however  irresistible,  to  put 
down  forever  an  ancient  and  respectable  nation.  Liberty 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  14$ 


may  repair  her  golden  beams,  and  with  redoubled  heat 
animate  the  country.  The  cry  of  loyalty  will  not  long  con- 
tinue against  the  principles  of  liberty.  Loyalty  is  a  noble,  a 
judicious,  and  a  capacious  principle  ;  but  in  these  countries, 
loyalty,  distinct  from  liberty,  is  corruption,  not  loyalty. 

"The  cry  of  disaffection  will  not,  in  the  end,  avail  against 
the  principles  of  liberty.  Yet  I  do  not  give  up  the  country. 
I  see  her  in  a  swoon,  but  she  is  not  dead.  Though  in  her 
tomb  she  lies  helpless  and  motionless,  still  there  is  on  her 
lips  a  spirit  of  life,  and  on  her  cheek  a  glow  of  beauty : 

'  Thou  art  not  conquered  ;  beauty's  ensign  yet 
Is  crimson  in  thy  lips  and  in  thy  cheeks, 
And  death's  pale  flag  is  not  advanced  there.' 

"While  a  plank  of  the  vessel  sticks  together,  I  will  not 
leave  her.  Let  the  courtier  present  his  flimsy  sail,  and  carry 
the  light  bark  of  his  faith  with  every  new  breath  of  wind; 
I  will  remain  anchored  here,  with  fidelity  to  the  fortunes  of 
my  country,  faithful  to  her  freedom,  faithful  to  her  fall." 

His  countrymen,  however,  were  so  much  divided  that  his 
efforts  were  unavailing.  He  exerted  his  oratorical  powers 
in  vain  on  this  subject. 

Mr.  Grattan  became  a  member  of  the  British  parliament 
in  1805;  where  he  stood  eminent  among  the  leading  orators 
and  statesmen  of  the  age.  Charles  Phillips  says:  "His 
debut  in  the  imperial  parliament  was  a  bold  and  hazardous 
experiment.  He  had  told  Flood,  and  somewhat  prophetic- 
ally, '  that  an  oak  of  the  forest  was  too  old  to  be  transplanted 
at  fifty ' ;  and  yet  here  he  was  himself ;  whether  he  would 
take  root  was  the  question,  and  for  some  moments  very 
questionable  it  was.  When  he  rose,  every  voice  in  that 
crowded  house  was  hushed — the  great  rivals,  Pitt  and  Fox, 
rivetted  their  eyes  on  him — he  strode  forth  and  gesticulated 
— the  hush  became  ominous,  not  a  cheer  was  heard,  men 
looked  in  one  another's  faces,  and  then  at  the  phenomenon 
before  them,  as  if  doubting  his  identity  ;  at  last  and  on  a 
sudden  the  indication  of  the  master-spirit  came.  Pitt  was 
the  first  generously  to  recognise  it ;  he  smote  his  thigh 


146  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


hastily  with  his  hand — it  was  an  impulse  when  he  was 
pleased — his  followers  saw  it,  and  knew  it,  and  with  a  uni- 
versal burst  they  hailed  the  advent  and  the  triumph  of  the 
stranger." 

Grattan  died  in  London  on  the  I4th  of  May,  1820.  Mr. 
Grattan's  personal  appearance  is  thus  described  by  Charles 
Phillips  :  "  He  was  short  in  stature  and  unprepossessing  in 
appearance.  His  arms  were  disproportionately  long.  His 
walk  was  a  stride.  With  a  person  swaying  like  a  pendulum, 
and  an  abstracted  air,  he  seemed  always  in  thought,  and 
each  thought  provoked  an  attendant  gesticulation.  Such 
was  the  outward  and  visible  form  of  one  whom  the  passenger 
would  stop  to  stare  at  as  a  droll,  and  the  philosopher  con- 
template as  a  study.  How  strange  it  seems  that  a  mind  so 
replete  with  grace  and  symmetry,  and  power  and  splendour, 
should  have  been  allotted  such  a  dwelling  for  its  residence. 
Yet  so  it  was ;  and  so  also  was  it  one  of  his  highest  attrib- 
utes that  his  genius,  by  its  '  excessive  light,'  blinded  the 
hearer  to  his  physical  imperfections.  It  was  the  victory  of 
mind  over  matter.  The  man  was  forgotten  in  the  orator." 

The  outlines  of  Mr.  Grattan's  character  as  an  orator  will 
next  be  given. 

His  son  says :  "  The  style  of  his  speaking  was  strikingly 
remarkable, — bold,  figurative,  and  impassioned,— always 
adapted  to  the  time  and  circumstance,  and  peculiarly  well 
suited  to  the  taste  and  temper  of  the  audience  that  he  had 
to  address.  In  the  latter  part  of  his  career,  his  arguments 
were  more  closely  arranged ;  there  was  less  ornament,  but 
more  fact  and  reasoning ;  less  to  dazzle  the  sight,  and  more 
to  convince  the  understanding." 

Grattan  endeavoured,  as  has  been  said,  to  form  his  manner 
of  speaking  after  the  style  of  Lord  Chatham.  His  eloquence 
resembled  that  of  the  great  Englishman  in  many  respects. 
"  Like  him,  he  excelled  in  the  highest  characteristics  of 
oratory — in  vehemence  of  action,  condensation  of  style, 
rapidity  of  thought,  closeness  of  argumentation,  striking  fig- 
ures, grand  metaphors,  beautiful  rhythmus,  luminous  state- 
ments, vivid  descriptions,  touching  pathos,  lofty  declama- 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  147 


tion,  bitter  sarcasm,  and  fierce  invective.  His  language,  like 
that  of  Chatham,  is  remarkable  for  its  terseness,  expressive- 
ness, and  energy.  His  periods  are  made  up  of  short  clauses 
which  flash  upon  the  mind  with  uncommon  vividness.  Pass- 
ing over  the  minutiae  of  his  discourse,  he  seized  the  principal 
points  in  debate  and  presented  them  in  the  strongest  light. 
The  intensity  of  feeling  by  which  his  mental  operations  were 
governed,  gave  rise  to  this  characteristic  of  eloquence  which 
distinguishes  the  most  powerful  orators.  Aiming  directly  at 
his  object,  he  generally  struck  the  decisive  blow  in  a  few 
words. 

"  Deep  emotion  strikes  directly  at  its  object.  It  struggles 
to  get  free  from  all  secondary  ideas — all  mere  accessories. 
Hence  the  simplicity  and  even  barrenness  of  thought,  which 
we  usually  find  in  the  great  passages  of  Chatham  and  De- 
mosthenes. The  whole  turns  often  on  a  single  phrase,  a 
word,  an  allusion.  They  put  forward  a  few  great  objects, 
sharply  defined,  and  standing  boldly  out  in  the  glowing  at- 
mosphere of  emotion.  They  pour  their  burning  thoughts 
instantaneously  upon  the  mind,  as  a  person  might  catch  the 
rays  of  the  sun  in  a  concave  mirror,  and  turn  them  on  their 
object  with  a  sudden  and  consuming  power." 

Lord  Brougham,  an  excellent  critic,  says  of  Mr.  Grattan : 
"Among  the  orators,  as  among  the  statesmen  of  his  age, 
Mr.  Grattan  occupies  a  place  in  the  foremost  rank ;  and  it 
was  the  age  of  the  Pitts,  the  Foxes,  and  the  Sheridans.  His 
eloquence  was  of  a  very  high  order,  all  but  of  the  very  high- 
est, and  it  was  eminently  original.  In  the  constant  stream 
of  a  diction  replete  with  epigram  and  point,  a  stream  on 
which  floated  gracefully,  because  naturally,  flowers  of  various 
hues, — was  poured  forth  the  closest  reasoning,  the  most 
luminous  statement,  the  most  persuasive  display  of  all  the 
motives  that  could  influence,  and  of  all  the  details  that  could 
enlighten,  his  audience.  Often  a  different  strain  was  heard, 
and  it  was  declamatory  and  vehement — or  pity  was  to  be 
moved,  and  its  pathos  was  as  touching  as  it  was  simple — or, 
above  all,  an  adversary  sunk  in  baseness,  or  covered  with 
crimes,  was  to  be  punished  or  to  be  destroyed,  and  a  storm 


148  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


of  the  most  terrible  invective  raged,  with  all  the  blights  of 
sarcasm  and  the  thunders  of  abuse." 

Professor  Goodrich,  in  a  splendid  critique  on  the  genius 
of  Grattan,  says  :  "The  speeches  of  Mr.  Grattan  offered  un- 
equivocal proof,  not  only  of  a  powerful  intellect,  but  of  a 
high  and  original  genius.  There  was  nothing  commonplace 
in  his  thoughts,  his  images,  or  his  sentiments.  Everything 
came  fresh  from  his  mind  with  the  vividness  of  a  new  crea- 
tion. His  most  striking  characteristic  was  condensation  and 
rapidity  of  thought.  '  Semper  instans  sibi'  pressing  con- 
tinually upon  himself,  he  never  dwelt  upon  an  idea,  however 
important ;  he  rarely  presented  it  under  more  than  one 
aspect ;  he  hardly  ever  stopped  to  fill  out  the  immediate 
steps  of  his  argument.  His  forte  was  reasoning,  but  it  was 
1  logic  or  fire ' ;  and  he  seemed  ever  to  delight  in  flashing 
his  ideas  on  the  mind  with  a  sudden,  startling  abruptness. 
Hence  a  distinguished  writer  has  spoken  of  his  eloquence  as 
a  '  combination  of  cloud,  whirlwind,  and  flame  ' — a  striking 
representation  of  the  occasional  obscurity  and  the  rapid 
force  and  brilliancy  of  his  style.  But  his  incessant  effort 
to  be  strong  sometimes  made  him  unnatural.  He  seems  to 
be  continually  straining  after  effect.  He  wanted  that  calm- 
ness and  self-possession  which  mark  the  highest  order  of 
minds,  and  show  their  consciousness  of  great  strength. 
When  he  had  mastered,  his  subject  mastered  him.  His 
great  efforts  have  too  much  the  air  of  harangues.  They 
sound  more  like  the  battle  speeches  of  Tacitus  than  the 
orations  of  Demosthenes. 

"  His  style  was  elaborated  with  great  care.  It  abounds  in 
metaphors  which  were  always  striking  and  often  grand.  It 
is  full  of  antitheses  and  epigrammatic  turns,  which  give  it 
uncommon  point  and  brilliancy,  but  have  too  often  an 
appearance  of  labour  and  affectation.  His  language  is  select. 
His  periods  are  easy  and  fluent — made  up  of  short  clauses, 
with  but  few  or  brief  qualifications,  all  uniting  in  the  expres- 
sion of  some  one  leading  thought.  His  rhythmus  is  often 
uncommonly  fine.  In  the  peroration  of  his  great  speech  of 
April  19,  1780,  we  have  one  of  the  best  specimens  in  our 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  149 


language  of  that  admirable  adaptation  of  the  sound  to  the 
sense  which  distinguished  the  ancient  orators. 

"  Though  Mr.  Grattan  is  not  a  safe  model  in  every  re- 
spect, there  are  certain  purposes  for  which  his  speeches  may 
be  studied  with  great  advantage.  Nothing  can  be  better 
suited  to  break  up  a  dull  monotony  of  style — to  give  raci- 
ness  and  point — to  teach  a  young  speaker  the  value  of  that 
terse  and  expressive  language  which  is  to  the  orator,  espe- 
cially, the  finest  instrument  of  thought." 

The  delivery  of  Mr.  Grattan  is  vividly  described  by 
Charles  Phillips  :  "  The  chief  difficulty  in  this  speaker's  way 
was  the  first  five  minutes.  During  his  exordium  laughter 
was  imminent.  He  bent  his  body  almost  to  the  ground, 
swung  his  arms  over  his  head,  up  and  down  and  around 
him,  and  added  to  the  grotesqueness  of  his  manner  a  hesi- 
tating tone  and  drawling  emphasis.  Still,  there  was  an 
earnestness  about  him  that  at  first  besought,  and  as  he 
warmed,  enforced,  nay  commanded,  attention.  The  eleva- 
tion of  his  mind,  the  grandeur  of  his  diction,  the  majesty  of 
his  declamation,  the  splendour  of  his  imagery,  and  the 
soundness  of  his  logic,  displayed  in  turn  the  ascendancy  of 
a  genius.  He  was  fine  and  judicious  in  his  panegyric;  but 
his  forte — that  which  seemed  to  conjure  up  and  concentrate 
all  his  faculties — was  the  overwhelming,  withering  severity 
of  his  invective.  It  was  like  the  torrent-lava ;  brilliant,  in- 
evitable, fatal.  It  required  such  qualifications  to  overcome 
the  peculiarity  of  his  appearance  and  the  disadvantages  of 
his  manner.  Truly  indeed  might  it  be  said  of  him,  as  he 
said  of  Chatham,  he  was  'very  great  and  very  odd!  For  a 
time  the  eye  dissented  from  the  verdict  of  the  mind  ;  but 
at  last  his  genius  carried  all  before  it,  and,  as  in  the  oracle 
of  old,  the  contortions  vanished  as  the  inspiration  became 
manifest." 

It  is  said  that  the  character  of  Mr.  Grattan  was  irreproach- 
able. It  was  remarked  by  Sir  James  Mackintosh,  that  he 
was  as  eminent  in  his  observance  of  all  the  duties  of  private 
life  as  he  was  heroic  in  the  discharge  of  his  public  ones.  He 
may  be  said  to  have  lived  only  for  his  country,  and  died  in 


ISO  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


advocating  her  cause.  Wilberforce  declared  that  he  never 
knew  a  man  whose  patriotism  and  love  for  his  country 
seemed  so  completely  to  extinguish  all  private  interests, 
and  to  induce  him  to  look  invariably  and  exclusively  to  the 
public  good. 

Curran. — John  Philpot  Curran  was  born  at  Newmarket,  a 
small  village  in  the  County  of  Cork,  Ireland,  on  the  24th  of 
July,  1750. 

He  entered  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  at  the  age  of  nine- 
teen. After  the  completion  of  his  college  course  he  went 
to  London,  and  commenced  the  study  of  the  law  in  the 
Middle  Temple.  He  pursued  his  studies  here  with  great 
ardour. 

His  mornings  were  spent  reading  law,  even  to  exhaustion, 
and  the  rest  of  the  day  in  the  more  congenial  pursuits  of 
literature. 

He  usually  read  law  seven  hours  every  day  before  his 
admission  to  the  bar,  and  devoted  about  three  hours  each 
day  to  the  study  of  history  and  the  general  principles  of 
politics. 

In  order  to  master  the  art  of  oratory,  Mr.  Curran  com- 
menced a  system  of  discipline  almost  as  severe  as  that 
adopted  by  the  great  Athenian.  He  knew  that  the  art  of 
speaking  well  cannot  be  acquired  without  the  closest  appli- 
cation, extensive  practice,  repeated  trials,  deep  sagacity,  and 
a  ready  invention. 

When  Curran  commenced  speaking,  his  voice  was  so  bad, 
and  his  articulation  so  hasty  and  confused,  that  he  was 
called  "  stuttering  Jack  Curran." 

His  manner  was  extremely  awkward,  his  gestures  were 
extravagant  and  meaningless  as  many  of  those  we  daily  see 
in  ordinary  practice,  and  his  whole  appearance  was  only 
calculated  to  produce  laughter.  All  these  faults  he  over- 
came by  patient  labour. 

Mr.  Curran  regularly  attended  the  London  debating  so- 
cieties ;  but  he  was  at  first  ridiculed  by  his  opponents,  and 
mortified  by  frequent  failures. 

Mr.  Curran  gives  a  graphic  account  of  one  of  his  earliest 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  ENGLAND.  1 5  I 


efforts  at  a  debating  club.  After  he  became  a  distinguished 
orator,  some  one  speaking  to  him  of  his  eloquence  said, 
"  It  must  have  been  born  with  you."  Curran  replied : 
"  Indeed,  my  dear  sir,  it  was  not.  It  was  born  three  and 
twenty  years  and  some  months  after  me.  When  I  was  at 
the  Temple,  a  few  of  us  formed  a  little  debating  club,  where 
all  the  great  questions  in  ethics  and  politics  were  discussed 
and  irrevocably  settled.  Upon  the  first  night  of  our  as- 
sembling, I  attended,  my  foolish  heart  throbbing  with  the 
anticipated  honour  of  being  styled,  '  the  honoured  member 
that  opened  the  debate/  or  '  the  very  eloquent  gentleman 
who  had  just  sat  down.'  All  day  the  scene  had  been  flitting 
before  my  fancy  and  cajoling  it ;  my  ear  already  caught  the 
glorious  melody  of  '  hear  him  !  hear  him  ! '  I  stood  up.  I  have 
forgotten  what  the  question  was.  My  mind  was  stored  with 
about  a  folio  volume  of  matter.  I  stood  up  trembling  through 
every  fibre,  but  remembering  that  in  this  I  was  imitating 
Cicero,  I  took  courage,  and  had  actually  proceeded  as  far  as 
*  Mr.  Chairman,'  when  to  my  astonishment  and  terror  I  per- 
ceived that  every  eye  was  rivetted  upon  me.  There  were  but 
six  or  seven  present,  and  the  little  room  could  not  hold  as 
many  more,  yet  was  it  to  my  panic-struck  imagination  as  if  I 
were  the  central  object  in  nature,  and  assembled  millions  were 
gazing  on  me  with  breathless  expectation.  I  became  dis- 
mayed and  dumb.  My  friends  cried  '  hear  him  !  '  but  there 
was  nothing  to  hear.  So  you  see  it  was  not  born  in  me.  My 
friends  despaired  of  my  ever  making  a  speaker,  but  I  would 
not  give  it  up.  I  attended  the  debates  punctually,  I  said 
yes  and  no,  till  at  length  one  in  his  speech  referred  to  me, 
calling  me  '  orator  mum,'  who  he  doubted  not  possessed 
wonderful  talents  for  eloquence  although  he  would  recom- 
mend him  to  show  it  in  future  by  some  more  popular  method 
than  his  silence.  I  followed  his  advice." 

One  of  his  friends  says :  "  He  turned  his  shrill  and 
stumbling  brogue  into  a  flexible,  sustained,  and  finely 
modulated  voice ;  his  action  became  free  and  forcible  ;  he 
acquired  perfect  readiness  in  thinking  on  his  legs ;  he  put 
down  every  opponent  by  the  mingled  force  of  his  argument 


152  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


and  wit,  and  was  at  last  crowned  with  the  universal  applause 
of  the  society,  and  invited  by  the  president  to  an  entertain- 
ment in  their  behalf." 

Mr.  Curran  was  a  member  of  the  Irish  House  of  Com- 
mons from  1783  to  1797,  but  he  never  became  a  distin- 
guished parliamentary  orator. 

His  education  fitted  him  for  the  forum  rather  than  the 
senate.  His  greatest  speeches  were  made  at  the  state  trials 
arising  out  of  the  United  Irish  conspiracy. 

Probably,  the  most  eloquent  speech  he  made  was  the  one 
in  defence  of  Mr.  Rowan,  who  was  indicted  for  the  publica- 
tion of  a  seditious  libel.  This  speech  was  delivered  on  the 
29th  of  January,  1794.  This  speech  contains  those  strikingly 
beautiful  and  highly  finished  passages  on  universal  emanci- 
pation and  the  liberty  of  the  press.  In  reading  them  it 
must  be  borne  in  mind  that  it  was  not  so  much  his  matter, 
although  that  was  excellent,  but  the  manner  in  which  his 
speech  was  made  which  invested  it  with  such  irresistible 
power,  and  caused  it  to  produce  such  wonderful  effects. 

In  order,  then,  to  form  an  adequate  idea  of  that  wonderful 
eloquence  which  subdued  every  heart,  "we  must  call  up  in 
our  minds  the  living  speaker,  with  his  glowing  eye  and 
expressive  countenance ;  his  bold  and  impassioned  gestures  ; 
his  finely  modulated  voice  and  musical  tones ;  his  wit  and 
mimicry ;  his  tenderness  and  pathos ;  his  cutting  sarcasm 
and  overwhelming  invective." 

The  first  extract  which  the  author  will  give  from  his  speech 
in  defence  of  Mr.  Rowan,  is  on  the  Liberty  of  the  Press : 

"  What  then  remains  ?  The  liberty  of  the  Press  only — 
that  sacred  palladium  which  no  influence,  no  power,  no 
minister,  no  government,  which  nothing  but  the  depravity, 
or  folly,  or  corruption  of  a  jury  can  ever  destroy. 

"  In  that  awful  moment  of  a  nation's  travail,  of  the  last 
gasp  of  tyranny,  and  the  first  breath  of  freedom,  how  preg- 
nant is  the  example  !  The  press  extinguished,  the  people 
enslaved,  and  the  prince  undone.  As  the  advocate  of  so- 
ciety, therefore — of  peace — of  domestic  liberty — and  the 
lasting  union  of  the  two  countries— I  conjure  you  to  guard 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  153 


the  liberty  of  the  press,  that  great  sentinel  of  the  state,  that 
great  detecter  of  public  imposture  ;  guard  it,  because,  when 
it  sinks,  there  sinks  with  it,  in  one  common  grave,  the 
liberty  of  the  subject  and  the  security  of  the  crown. 

"There  is  a  sort  of  aspiring  and  adventurous  credulity 
which  disdains  assenting  to  obvious  truths,  and  delights  in 
catching  at  the  improbability  of  circumstance,  as  its  best 
ground  of  faith.  To  what  other  cause,  gentlemen,  can  you 
ascribe  that,  in  the  wise,  the  reflecting,  and  the  philosophical 
nation  of  Great  Britain,  a  printer  has  been  found  guilty  of  a 
libel  for  publishing  those  resolutions,  to  which  the  present 
minister  of  that  kingdom  had  actually  subscribed  his  name? 
To  what  other  cause  can  you  ascribe,  what  in  my  mind  is 
still  more  astonishing,  in  such  a  country  as  Scotland,  a 
nation  cast  in  the  happy  medium  between  the  spiritless 
acquiescence  of  submissive  poverty  and  the  sturdy  credulity 
of  pampered  wealth  ;  cool  and  ardent,  adventurous  and  per- 
severing ;  winging  her  eagle  flight  against  the  blaze  of  every 
science,  with  an  eye  that  never  winks,  and  a  wing  that  never 
tires ;  crowned  as  sh*e  is  with  the  spoils  of  every  art,  and 
decked  with  the  wreath  of  every  muse ;  from  the  deep  and 
scrutinising  researches  of  her  Hume,  to  the  sweet  and  sim- 
ple, but  not  less  sublime  and  pathetic  morality  of  her  Burns 
— how,  from  the  bosom  of  a  country  like  that,  genius  and 
character  and  talents  should  be  banished  to  a  distant,  bar- 
barous soil,  condemned  to  pine  under  the  horrid  communion 
of  vulgar  vice  and  base-born  profligacy,  for  twice  the  period 
that  ordinary  calculation  gives  to  the  continuance  of  human 
life  ?  But  I  will  not  further  press  any  idea  that  is  painful  to 
me,  and  I  am  sure  must  be  painful  to  you.  I  will  only  say, 
you  have  now  an  example  of  which  neither  England  nor 
Scotland  had  the  advantage.  You  have  the  example  of  the 
panic,  the  infatuation,  and  the  contrition  of  both.  It  is  now 
for  you  to  decide  whether  you  will  profit  by  their  experience 
of  idle  panic  and  idle  regret,  or  whether  you  merely  prefer 
to  palliate  a  servile  imitation  of  their  frailty  by  a  paltry 
affectation  of  their  repentance.  It  is  now  for  you  to  show 
that  you  are  not  carried  away  by  the  same  hectic  delusions, 


154  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


to  acts  of  which  no  tears  can  wash  away  the  consequences 
or  the  indelible  reproach." 

The  eloquent  passage  on  Universal  Emancipation  reads  as 
follows:  "I  speak  in  the  spirit  of  the  British  law,  which 
makes  liberty  commensurate  with,  and  inseparable  from,  the 
British  soil — which  proclaims  even  to  the  stranger  and  the 
sojourner  the  moment  he  sets  foot  upon  British  earth,  that 
the  ground  on  which  he  treads  is  holy  and  consecrated  by 
the  genius  of  Universal  Emancipation.  No  matter  in  what 
language  his  doom  may  be  pronounced  ;  no  matter  what 
complexion  incompatible  with  freedom  an  Indian  or  an 
African  sun  may  have  burned  upon  him ;  no  matter  in  what 
disastrous  battle  his  liberty  may  have  been  cloven  down  ;  no 
matter  with  what  solemnities  he  may  have  been  devoted 
upon  the  altar  of  slavery, — the  first  moment  he  touches  the 
sacred  soil  of  Britain,  the  altar  and  the  god  sink  together  in 
the  dust ;  his  soul  walks  abroad  in  her  own  majesty ;  his 
body  swells  beyond  the  measure  of  his  chains,  that  burst 
from  around  him,  and  he  stands  redeemed,  regenerated, 
and  disenthralled  by  the  irresistible  genius  of  Universal 
Emancipation." 

Beautifully  conceived  is  the  peroration  of  this  great 
speech :  "  Upon  this  subject  credit  me  when  I  say  that  I 
am  still  more  anxious  for  you  than  I  can  be  for  him.  I 
cannot  but  feel  the  peculiarity  of  your  situation.  Not  the 
jury  of  his  own  choice,  which  the  law  of  England  allows, 
but  which  ours  refuses,  collected  in  that  box  by  a  person 
certainly  no  friend  to  Mr.  Rowan,  certainly  not  very  deeply 
interested  in  giving  him  a  very  impartial  jury.  Feeling 
this,  as  I  am  persuaded  you  do,  you  cannot  be  surprised, 
however  you  may  be  distressed,  at  the  mournful  presage 
with  which  an  anxious  public  is  led  to  fear  the  worst  from 
your  possible  determination.  But  I  will  not,  for  the  justice 
and  honour  of  our  common  country,  suffer  my  mind  to  be 
borne  away  by  such  melancholy  anticipations.  I  will  not 
relinquish  the  confidence  that  this  day  will  be  the  period  of 
his  sufferings ;  and  however  merciless  he  has  been  hitherto 
pursued,  that  your  verdict  will  send  him  home  to  the  arms 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  ENGLAND.  1 5  5 


of  his  family  and  the  wishes  of  his  country.  But  if,  which 
Heaven  forbid,  it  hath  still  been  unfortunately  determined 
that,  because  he  has  not  bent  to  power  and  authority,  be- 
cause he  would  not  bow  down  before  the  golden  calf  and 
worship  it,  he  is  to  be  bound  and  cast  into  the  furnace,  I  do 
trust  in  God  that  there  is  a  redeeming  spirit  in  the  Constitu- 
tion which  will  be  seen  to  walk  with  the  sufferer  through  the 
flames,  and  to  preserve  him  unhurt  by  the  conflagration." 

Mr.  Curran's  personal  appearance  is  vividly  described  by 
his  friend  and  biographer,  the  celebrated  Charles  Phillips : 
"  Mr.  Curran  was  short  of  stature,  with  a  swarthy  com- 
plexion, and  l  an  eye  that  glowed  like  a  live  coal.'  His  coun- 
tenance was  singularly  expressive ;  and  as  he  stood  before 
a  jury  he  not  only  read  their  hearts  with  a  searching  glance, 
but  he  gave  them  back  his  own  in  all  the  fluctuations  of  his 
feelings,  from  laughter  to  tears.  His  gesture  was  bold  and 
impassioned;  his  articulation  was  uncommonly  distinct  and 
deliberate ;  the  modulations  of  his  voice  were  varied  in  a 
high  degree,  and  perfectly  suited  to  the  widest  range  of  his 
eloquence." 

Mr.  Curran's  oratory  was  of  the  most  copious,  fervid,  and 
expressive  kind.  It  sparkled  with  wit,  humour,  fun,  and  ridi- 
cule. Bitter  sarcasm  and  terrible  invective  sometimes  pre- 
dominated, however.  At  other  times  his  deep  pathos  caused 
tears  to  flow  from  every  eye.  The  strength  and  variety  of 
his  emotions  were  wonderful.  "  He  delighted  a  jury  by  his 
wit ;  he  turned  the  court-room  into  a  scene  of  the  broadest 
farce  by  his  humour,  mimicry,  and  fun  ;  he  made  it  '  a  place 
of  tears,'  by  a  tenderness  and  pathos  which  subdued  every 
heart ;  he  poured  out  his  invective  like  a  stream  of  lava,  and 
inflamed  the  minds  of  his  countrymen  almost  to  madness  by 
the  recital  of  their  wrongs.  His  rich  and  powerful  imagina- 
tion furnished  the  materials  for  these  appeals,  and  his  instinc- 
tive knowledge  of  the  heart  taught  him  how  to  use  them 
with  unfailing  success." 

Mr.  Curran's  ascendancy  over  the  feelings  of  his  country- 
men was  complete.  He  was  one  of  the  most  popular  orators 
of  his  day.  "  He  spoke — and  the  nation  listened.  He  put 


156  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


forth  his  thoughts  in  language  that  stirred  the  hearts  of  all. 
His  imagination  was  fertile  ;  his  language  was  striking  and 
appropriate  ;  his  pathos  was  refined  and  thrilling ;  his  whole 
appearance  indicated  earnestness  and  sincerity.  In  many 
respects,  his  eloquence  was  similar  to  that  of  his  intimate 
associate  and  illustrious  rival,  Thomas  Addis  Emmet." 

Judge  Story's  remarks  on  the  character  of  Mr.  Emmet 
apply  with  equal  truth  to  Mr.  Curran.  "  His  mind  was 
quick,  vigorous,  searching,  and  buoyant.  He  kindled  as  he 
spoke.  There  was  a  spontaneous  combustion,  as  it  were, 
not  sparkling,  but  clear  and  glowing.  His  object  seemed  to 
be,  not  to  excite  wonder  or  surprise,  to  captivate  by  bright 
pictures,  and  varied  images,  and  graceful  groups,  and  start- 
ling apparitions ;  but  by  earnest  and  close  reasoning  to  con- 
vince the  judgment,  or  to  overwhelm  the  heart  by  awakening 
its  most  profound  emotions.  His  own  feelings  were  warm 
and  easily  touched.  His  sensibility  was  keen,  and  refined 
itself  almost  into  a  melting  tenderness.  His  knowledge  of 
the  human  heart  was  various  and  exact.  He  was  easily 
captivated  by  a  belief  that  his  own  cause  was  first.  Hence 
his  eloquence  was  most  striking  for  its  persuasiveness.  He 
said  what  he  felt,  and  he  felt  what  he  said.  His  command 
over  the  passions  of  others  was  an  instantaneous  and  sympa- 
thetic action.  The  tones  of  his  voice,  when  he  touched  on 
topics  calling  for  deep  feeling,  were  instinct  with  meaning. 
They  were  utterances  of  the  soul  as  well  as  of  the  lips." 

O'Connell. — Daniel  O'Connell,  one  of  the  greatest  forensic 
and  political  orators  which  Ireland  has  produced,  was  born 
August  6,  1775,  in  Kerry.  He  was  of  a  long-lived  family: 
his  uncle  Maurice,  was  ninety-seven  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
and  another  uncle,  General  O'Connell,  died  in  the  French 
service  at  the  age  of  ninety-one.  O'Connell  was  called  to 
the  Irish  bar  in  Easter  Term,  1798,  and  his  industry  and 
ability  soon  obtained  him  business. 

The  following  sketch  of  O'Connell  was  written  during  his 
lifetime,  by  Sheil,  for  many  years  his  warm  personal  friend, 
and  political  associate  : 

"His    frame  is  tall,   expanded,  and    muscular;  precisely 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  ENGLAND.  1 5  / 


such  as  befits  a  man  of  the  people— for  the  physical  classes 
ever  look  with  double  confidence  and  affection  upon  a 
leader  who  represents  in  his  own  person  the  qualities 
upon  which  they  rely.  In  his  face  he  has  been  equally  for- 
tunate :  it  is  extremely  comely.  The  features  are  at  once 
soft  and  manly ;  the  florid  glow  of  health  and  a  sanguine 
temperament  are  diffused  over  the  whole  countenance, 
which  is  national  in  the  outline,  and  beaming  with  national 
emotion.  The  expression  is  open  and  confiding,  and  invi- 
ting confidence  ;  there  is  not  a  trace  of  malignity  or  wile— 
if  there  were,  the  bright  and  sweet  blue  eyes,  the  most 
kindly  and  honest-looking  that  can  be  conceived,  would 
repel  the  imputation.  These  popular  gifts  of  nature  O'Con- 
nell  has  not  neglected  to  set  off  by  his  external  carriage  and 
deportment,  or,  perhaps,  I  should  rather  say,  that  the  same 
hand  which  has  moulded  the  exterior  has  supersaturated  the 
inner  man  with  a  fund  of  restless  propensity,  which  it  is 
quite  beyond  his  power,  as  it  is  certainly  beyond  his  inclina- 
tion, to  control.  A  large  portion  of  this  is  necessarily  ex- 
pended upon  his  legal  avocations ;  but  the  labours  of  the 
most  -laborious  of  professions  cannot  tame  him  into  repose  : 
after  deducting  the  daily  drains  of  the  study  and  the  courts, 
there  remains  an  ample  residuum  of  animal  spirits  and  ardour 
for  occupation,  which  go  to  form  a  distinct,  and,  I  might 
say,  a  predominant  character — the  political  chieftain.  The 
existence  of  this  overweening  vivacity  is  conspicuous  in 
O'Connell's  manners  and  movements,  and  being  a  popular, 
and  more  particularly  a  national  quality,  greatly  recom- 
mends him  to  the  Irish  people.  .  .  . 

"  As  a  professional  man  O'Connell  is,  perhaps,  for  general 
business,  the  most  competent  advocate  at  the  Irish  bar. 
Every  requisite  for  a  barrister  of  all-work  is  combined  in 
him;  some  in  perfection — all  in  sufficiency.  He  is  not  un- 
derstood to  be  a  deep  scientific  lawyer.  He  is,  what  is  far 
better  for  himself  and  his  clients,  an  admirably  practical 
one.  He  is  a  thorough  adept  in  all  the  complicated  and  fan- 
tastic forms  with  which  justice,  like  a  Chinese  monarch, 
insists  that  her  votaries  shall  approach  her.  A  suitor  ad- 


HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 

vancing  toward  her  throne,  cannot  go  through  the  evolutions 
of  the  indispensable  Ko-tou  under  a  more  skilful  master  of 
the  ceremonies.  In  this  department  of  his  profession,  the 
knowledge  of  the  practice  of  the  courts,  and  in  a  perfect 
familiarity  with  the  general  principles  of  law  that  are  applica- 
ble to  questions  discussed  in  open  court,  O'Connell  is  on  a 
level  with  the  most  experienced  of  his  competitors  ;  and  with 
few  exceptions,  perhaps  with  the  single  one  of  Mr.  Plunket, 
he  surpasses  them  all  in  the  vehement  and  pertinacious 
talent  with  which  he  contends  to  the  last  for  victory,  or, 
where  victory  is  impossible,  for  an  honourable  retreat.  If 
his  mind  had  been  duly  disciplined,  he  would  have  been  a 
first-rate  reasoner  and  a  most  formidable  sophist.  He  has  all 
the  requisites  from  nature — singular  clearness,  promptitude, 
and  acuteness.  When  occasion  requires,  he  evinces  a  meta- 
physical subtlety  of  perception  which  nothing  can  elude. 
The  most  slippery  distinction  that  glides  across  him,  he  can 
grasp  and  hold  ' pressis  manibus,'  until  he  pleases  to  set  it 
free.  But  his  argumentative  powers  lose  much  of  their 
effect  from  want  of  arrangement.  His  thoughts  have  too 
much  of  the  impatience  of  conscious  strength  to  submit  to 
an  orderly  disposition.  Instead  of  moving  to  the  conflict  in 
compact  array,  they  rush  forward  like  a  tumultuary  insur- 
gent mass,  jostling  and  overturning  one  another  in  the  con- 
fusion of  the  charge  ;  and,  though  finally  beating  down  all 
opposition  by  sheer  strength  and  numbers,  still  reminding 
us  of  the  far  greater  things  they  might  have  achieved  had 
they  been  better  drilled. 

"  But,  O'Connell  has,  by  temperament,  a  disdain  of  every- 
thing that  is  methodical  and  sedate.  You  can  see  this 
running  through  his  whole  deportment  in  court.  I  never 
knew  a  learned  personage  who  resorted  so  little  to  the  ordi- 
nary tricks  of  his  vocation.  As  he  sits  waiting  till  his  turn 
comes  to  '  blaze  away,'  he  appears  totally  exempt  from  the 
usual  throes  and  heavings  of  animo-gestation.  There  is  no 
hermetically-sealing  of  the  lips,  as  if  nothing  else  could 
restrain  the  fermentation  within  ;  th.ere  are  no  traces  of  ab- 
straction, as  if  the  thoughts  had  left  their  home  on  a  distant 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  159 


voyage  of  discovery  ;  no  haughty  swellings  of  the  mind  into 
alto-relievos  on  the  learned  brow ; — there  is  nothing  of  this 
about  O'Connell.  On  the  contrary,  his  countenance  and 
manner  impress  you  with  the  notion,  that  he  looks  forward 
to  the  coming  effort  as  a  pastime  in  which  he  takes  delight. 
Instead  of  assuming  the  '  Sir  Oracle,'  he  is  all  gayety  and 
good-humour,  and  seldom  fails  to  disturb  the  gravity  of  the 
proceedings  by  a  series  of  disorderly  jokes,  for  which  he  is 
duly  rebuked  by  his  antagonists  with  a  solemnity  of  indig- 
nation that  provokes  a  repetition  of  the  offence ;  but  his 
insubordinate  levity  is,  for  the  most  part,  so  redeemed  by 
his  imperturbable  good-temper,  that  even  the  judges,  when 
compelled  to  interfere  and  pronounce  him  out  of  order,  are 
generally  shaking  their  sides  as  heartily  as  the  most  enrap- 
tured of  his  admirers  in  the  galleries.  In  the  midst,  how- 
ever, of  this  seeming  carelessness,  his  mind  is,  in  reality, 
attending  with  the  keenest  vigilance  to  the  subject-matter 
of  discussion  ;  and  the  contrast  is  often  quite  amusing.  .  .  . 
"  Mr.  O'Connell  is  in  particular  request  in  jury  cases.  There 
he  is  in  his  element.  Next  to  the  '  harp  of  his  country,'  an 
Irish  jury  is  the  instrument  on  which  he  delights  to  play ; 
and  no  one  better  understands  its  qualities  and  compass.  I 
have  already  glanced  at  his  versatility.  It  is  here  that  it  is 
displayed.  His  powers  as  a  Nisi-Prius  advocate,  consist 
not  so  much  in  the  perfection  of  any  of  the  qualities  neces- 
sary to  the  art  of  persuasion,  as  in  the  number  of  them  he 
has  at  command,  and  the  skill  with  which  he  selects  and 
adapts  them  to  the  exigency  of  each  particular  case.  He 
has  a  thorough  knowledge  of  human  nature,  as  it  prevails 
in  the  class  of  men  whom  he  has  to  mould  to  his  purposes. 
I  know  of  no  one  that  exhibits  a  more  quick  and  accurate 
perception  of  the  essential  peculiarities  of  the  Irish  charac- 
ter. It  is  not  merely  with  reference  to  their  passions  that 
he  understands  them,  though  here  he  is  pre-eminently  adroit. 
He  can  cajole  a  dozen  of  miserable  corporation-hacks  into 
the  persuasion  that  the  honour  of  their  country  is  concen- 
trated in  their  persons.  His  mere  acting  on  such  occasions 
is  admirable ;  no  matter  how  base  and  stupid,  and  how 


l6o  HISTORY   OF  ORATORY. 


poisoned  by  political  antipathy  to  himself,  he  may  believe 
them  to  be,  he  affects  the  most  complimentary  ignorance  of 
their  real  characters.  He  hides  his  scorn  and  contempt 
under  a  look  of  unbounded  reliance.  He  addresses  them 
with  all  the  deference  due  to  upright  and  high-minded 
jurors.  He  talks  to  them  of  *  the  eyes  of  all  Europe/  and 
the  present  gratitude  of  Ireland,  and  the  residuary  blessings 
of  posterity,  with  the  most  perfidious  command  of  counte- 
nance. In  short,  by  dint  of  unmerited  commendations,  he 
belabours  them  into  the  belief  that,  after  all,  they  have  some 
reputation  to  sustain,  and  sets  them  chuckling,  with  antici- 
pated exultation,  at  the  honours  with  which  a  verdict  accord- 
ing to  the  evidence  is  to  consecrate  their  names. 

"  But,  in  addition  to  the  art  of  heating  the  passions  of  his 
hearers  to  the  malleable  point,  O'Connell  manifests  powers 
of  observation  of  another,  and,  for  general  purposes,  a  more 
valuable  kind.  He  knows  that  strange  modification  of  hu- 
manity— the  Irish  mind,- — not  only  in  its  moral,  but  in  its 
metaphysical  peculiarities.  Throw  him  upon  any  particular 
class  of  men,  and  you  would  imagine  that  he  must  have 
lived  among  them  all  his  life,  so  intuitively  does  he  accom- 
modate his  style  of  argument  to  their  particular  modes  of 
thinking  and  reasoning.  He  knows  the  exact  quantity  of 
strict  logic  which  they  will  bear  or  can  comprehend.  Hence 
(where  it  serves  his  purpose),  instead  of  trying  to  drag  them 
along  with  him,  whether  they  will  or  no,  by  a  chain  of  un- 
broken demonstration,  he  has  the  address  to  make  them 
imagine  that  their  movements  are  directed  solely  by  them- 
selves. He  pays  their  compliments  the  compliment  of  not 
making  things  too  clear.  Familiar  with  the  habitual  tenden- 
cies of  their  minds,  he  contents  himself  with  throwing  off 
rather  materials  for  reasoning  than  elaborate  reasonings- 
mere  fragments  or  seeds  of  thought,  which,  from  his  know- 
ledge of  the  soil  in  which  they  drop,  he  confidently  predicts 
will  shoot  up  and  expand  into  precisely  the  conclusions  that 
he  wants.  This  method  has  the  disadvantage,  as  far  as  per- 
sonally regards  the  speaker,  of  giving  the  character  of  more 
than  his  usual  looseness  and  irregularity  to  O'Connell's  jury 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  l6l 


speeches ;  but  his  client,  for  whom  alone  he  labours,  is  a 
gainer  by  it — directly  in  the  way  I  have  been  stating,  and 
indirectly  for  this  reason,  that  it  keeps  the  jury  in  the  dark 
as  to  the  points  of  the  case  in  which  he  feels  he  is  weak.  By 
abstaining  from  a  show  of  rigorous  demonstration,  where  all 
the  argument  is  evidently  upon  his  side,  he  excites  no  sus- 
picion by  keeping  at  an  equal  distance  from  topics  which  he 
•could  not  venture  to  approach.  This,  of  course,  is  not  to 
be  taken  as  O'Connell's  invariable  manner,  for  he  has  no  in- 
variable manner,  but  as  a  specimen  of  that  dexterous  accom- 
modation of  particular  means  to  a  particular  end,  from 
which  his  general  powers  as  a  Nisi-Prius  advocate  may  be 
inferred.  And  so,  too,  of  the  tone  in  which  he  labours  to  ex- 
tort a  verdict ;  for  though,  when  compelled  by  circumstances, 
he  can  be  soft  and  soothing,  as  I  have  above  described  him, 
yet  on  other  occasions,  where  it  can  be  done  with  safety,  he 
does  not  hesitate  to  apprise  a  jury,  whose  purity  he  suspects, 
of  his  real  opinion  of  their  merits,  and  indeed,  not  infre- 
quently, in  the  roundest  terms  defies  them  to  balance  for 
an  instant  between  their  malignant  prejudices  and  the  clear 
and  resistless  justice  of  the  case. 

"  There  is  one,  the  most  difficult,  it  is  said,  and  certainly 
the  most  anxious  and  responsible  part  of  an  advocate's 
duties,  in  which  O'Connell  is  without  a  rival  at  the  Irish  bar 
— I  allude  to  his  skill  in  conducting  defences  in  the  crown 
court.  His  ability  in  this  branch  of  his  profession  illustrates 
one  of  those  inconsistencies  in  his  character  to  which  I  have 
already  adverted.  Though  habitually  so  bold  and  sanguine, 
he  is  here  a  model  of  forethought  and  undeviating  caution. 
In  his  most  rapid  cross-examinations  he  never  puts  a  dan- 
gerous question.  He  presses  a  witness  upon  collateral  facts, 
and  beats  him  down  by  arguments  and  jokes  and  vocifera- 
tions ;  but  wisely  presuming  his  client  to  be  guilty  until  he 
has  the  good  luck  to  escape  conviction,  he  never  affords  the 
witness  an  opportunity  of  repeating  his  original  narrative, 
and  perhaps,  by  supplying  an  omitted  item,  of  sealing  the 
doom  of  the  accused. 

"  O'Connell's  ordinary  style  is  vigorous  and   copious,  but 


1 62  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


incorrect.  The  want  of  compactness  in  his  periods,  how- 
ever, I  attribute  chiefly  to  inattention.  He  has  phrase  in 
abundance  at  command,  is  sensible  of  melody.  Every  now 
and  then  he  throws  off  sentences  not  only  free  from  all 
defect,  but  extremely  felicitous  specimens  of  diction.  As 
to  his  general  powers  of  eloquence,  he  rarely  fails  in  a  case 
admitting  of  emotion  to  make  a  deep  impression  upon  a 
jury ;  and  in  a  popular  assembly  he  is  supreme.  Still  there 
is  much  more  of  eloquence  in  his  manner  and  topics  than  in 
his  conceptions.  He  unquestionably  proves,  by  occasional 
bursts,  that  the  elements  of  oratory,  and  perhaps  of  the 
highest  order,  are  about  him  ;  but  he  has  had  too  many 
pressing  demands  of  another  kind  to  distract  him  from  the 
cultivation  of  this  the  rarest  of  all  attainments,  and  accord- 
ingly I  am  not  aware  that  any  of  his  efforts,  however  able 
and  successful,  have  deserved,  as  examples  of  public  speak- 
ing, to  survive  the  occasion.  His  manner,  though  far  from 
graceful,  is  earnest  and  impressive.  It  has  a  steady  and 
natural  warmth,  without  any  of  that  snappish  animation  in 
which  gentlemen  of  the  long  robe  are  prone  to  indulge.  His 
voice  is  powerful,  and  the  intonations  full  and  graduated. 
I  understand  that  when  he  first  appeared  at  the  bar,  his 
accent  at  once  betrayed  his  foreign  education.  To  this  day 
there  is  a  remaining  dash  of  Foigardism  in  his  pronunciation 
of  particular  words ;  but  on  the  whole  he  has  brought  him- 
self, as  far  as  delivery  is  concerned,  to  talk  pretty  much  like 
a  British  subject.' 

Curran  gives  the  following  sketch  of  O'Connell :  "  The 
inmate  of  the  carriage  was  about  five  feet  eleven  and  a  half 
inches  high,  and  wore  a  portly,  stout,  hale,  and  agreeable 
appearance.  His  shoulders  were  broad,  and  his  legs  stoutly 
built,  and,  as  he  at  that  moment  stood,  one  arm  in  his  side- 
pocket,  the  other  thrust  into  a  waistcoat,  which  was  almost 
completely  unbuttoned  from  the  heat  of  the  day,  he  would 
have  made  a  good  figure  for  the  rapid  but  fine-finishing 
pencil  of  Harlowe.  His  head  was  covered  with  a  light  fur 
cap,  which,  partly  thrown  back,  displayed  the  breadth  of 
forehead  which  I  have  never  yet  seen  absent  from  real 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  163 


talent.  His  eyes  appeared  to  me  at  that  instant  to  be 
between  a  light-blue  and  a  grey  colour.  His  face  was  pale 
and  sallow,  as  if  the  turmoil  of  business,  the  shade  of  care, 
or  the  study  of  midnight  had  chased  away  the  glow  of  health 
and  youth.  Around  his  mouth  played  a  cast  of  sarcasm, 
which,  to  a  quick  eye,  at  once  betrayed  satire  ;  and  it  ap- 
peared as  if  the  lips  could  be  easily  resolved  into  the  risus 
sardonicus.  His  head  was  somewhat  larger  than  that  which 
a  modern  doctrine  denominates  the  "  medium  size";  and  it 
was  well  supported  by  a  stout  and  well-foundationed  ped- 
estal, which  was  based  on  a  breast,  full,  round,  prominent, 
and  capacious.  The  eye  was  shaded  by  a  brow  which  I 
thought  would  be  more  congenial  to  sunshine  than  storm  ; 
and  the  nose  was  neither  Grecian  nor  Roman,  but  was  large 
enough  to  admit  him  into  the  chosen  band  of  that  "  im- 
mortal rebel "  (as  Lord  Byron  called  Cromwell),  who  chose 
his  body-guard  with  capacious  lungs  and  noses,  as  affording 
greater  capability  of  undergoing  toil  and  hardship.  Alto- 
gether he  appeared  to  possess  strong  physical  powers.  .  .  . 
"  Were  O'Connell  addressing  a  mixed  assembly  where  the 
lower  orders  predominated,  I  scarcely  know  any  one  who 
would  have  such  a  power  of  wielding  the  passions.  He 
has  a  knack  of  speaking  to  a  mob  which  I  have  never  heard 
exceeded.  His  manner  has  at  times  the  rhodomontade  of 
Hunt;  but  he  is  infinitely  superior,  of  course,  to  this  well- 
known  democrat  in  choice  of  language  and  power  of  expres- 
sion. The  same  remark  may  apply,  were  I  to  draw  any 
comparison  between  him  and  another  well-known  mob- 
speaker,  Cobbett.  Were  he  opposed  to  these  two  persons 
in  any  assembly  of  the  people,  he  would  infallibly  prove 
himself  the  victor.  A  balcony  outside  a  high  window,  and 
a  large  mob  beneath  him,  is  the  very  spot  for  O'Connell. 
There  he  would  be  best  seen,  and  his  powers  and  person 
best  observed ;  but  were  he  in  the  House  of  Commons,  I 
do  not  think  I  am  incorrect  when  I  say  that  he  would  make 
little  impression  on  the  house,  supposing  he  was  heard  with 
every  prepossession  in  his  favour.  [It  is  needless  to  say  that 
O'Connell  afterward  became  one  of  the  best  speakers  in  the 


164  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


House  of  Commons.]  His  action  wants  grace  and  suavity — 
qualities  so  eminently  fascinating  in  an  elegant  and  classical 
speaker,  but  which  perhaps  are  overlooked  in  an  '  orator*  of 
the  people.'  The  motions  of  his  body  are  often  sharp  and 
angular.  His  arms  swing  about  ungracefully  ;  and  at  times 
the  right  hand  plays  slovenly  with  his  watch-chain. 

"  Though  I  shall  not,  perhaps,  find  many  to  agree  with 
me,  yet  I  am  free  to  confess  that  he  does  not  appear  to  me 
to  possess  that  very  rare  gift— genuine  satire.  He  wants  the 
cultivated  grace  of  language  which  his  compeer,  Sheil,  pos- 
sesses, and  the  brilliancy  of  metaphor.  .  .  .  His  language 
is  often  coarse,  and  seldom  elegant.  Strong,  fierce,  and  per- 
haps bold,  it  often  is ;  but  vituperation  and  personality  make 
up  too  much  of  the  mate'riel.  His  voice  is  sometimes  harsh 
and  dissonant ;  and  I  could  wish  more  of  that  round,  full 
mellow  tone,  which  is  essential  to  a  good  delivery,  and  which 
captivates  the  ear.  '  The  voice  is  the  key  which  unlocks  the 
heart,'  says  Madame  Roland.  I  believe  it.  Let  the  reader 
listen  to  the  fine  round  voice  of  Lord  Chief-Justice  Bushe, 
and  then  let  him  hear  the  sometimes  grating  tones  of  O'Con- 
nell,  and  he  will  soon  perceive  the  difference.  The  voice  of 
the  latter  much  reminds  me  of  the  harsh  thinness  of  Mr.  J. 
D.  Latouche's  (whose  conversational  tone  by-the-by,  is  far 
beyond  his  oratorical  one) ;  and  yet  the  coolness  and  the 
astuteness  which  the  latter  gentleman  possesses  in  an  argu- 
ment, would  be  no  bad  substitute  for  the  headlong  impetu- 
osity and  violent  sarcasm  in  which  O'Connell  sometimes 
indulges. 

"  As  he  cannot  clothe  his  language  in  the  same  elegance  as 
Sheil,  he  consequently  cannot  give  the  same  insinuation  to 
his  discourses.  In  this  respect  his  contemporary  has  greatly 
the  advantage.  Sheil  gives  us  the  poetry  of  eloquence — 
O'Connell  gives  us  the  prose.  The  attempts  of  the  latter  at 
wit  are  clumsy,  while  the  former  can  bring  both  that  and 
metaphor  to  his  aid,  and  he  often  uses  them  with  much  effect. 

"  O'Connell,  however,  can  attempt  humour  with  effect, 
and  he  has  a  peculiar  tact  in  suiting  this  humour  to  the 
Irish  people,  I  have  not  often  seen  a  good  exordium  from 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  165 


O'Connell  an  integral  part  of  a  discourse  which  it  is  extremely 
difficult  to  make  ;  and  I  think  his  perorations  want  grace, 
point,  and  force,  and  that  which  the  Italians  would  denomi- 
nate '  espressivo.'  " 

O'Connell  was  able  at  the  bar.  He  was  studious,  indus- 
trious, and  ambitious.  His  knowledge  of  human  nature  was 
profound.  He  had  an  athletic  understanding,  much  sensi- 
bility, imagination,  and  great  force  of  passion.  His  caution, 
coolness,  and  powers  of  labour  were  extraordinary. 

While  accounted  one  of  the  best  advocates  of  his  time,  he 
was  also  in  great  repute  in  civil  cases. 

His  knowledge  of  character,  as  has  been  said,  was  wonder- 
ful. He  dissected  the  motives  of  parties  and  witnesses  with 
inimitable  skill.  His  combination  of  knowledge  of  the  world 
and  legal  information,  his  aptness  and  ingenuity,  his  inex- 
haustible supply  of  humour,  his  torrents  of  ridicule,  his  zeal 
for  his  client,  and  untiring  physical  energies,  rendered  him  a 
formidable  antagonist  at  the  bar. 

On  one  occasion  O'Connell  defended  a  man  named  Hogan, 
charged  with  murder.  A  hat,  which  the  prosecution  insisted 
belonged  to  the  prisoner,  was  found  close  to  the  body  of  the 
murdered  man,  and  this  was  the  principal  ground  for  suppos- 
ing that  Hogan  was  the  perpetrator  of  the  horrible  deed. 
The  state  of  the  body  showed  that  the  deceased  had  come 
to  his  death  by  violence,  and  O'Connell  felt  that  the  case  for 
the  prisoner  required  the  utmost  of  his  powers.  The  crown 
counsel  made  a  strong  point  on  the  hat,  which  was  produced 
in  court.  O'Connell  cross-examined  the  neighbour  of  the 
prisoner  who  identified  it. 

"  It  is  not  different  from  other  hats,"  said  O'Connell. 

"  Well,  seemingly,  but  I  know  the  hat." 

"  Are  you  perfectly  sure  that  this  was  the  hat  found  near 
the  body  ?  " 

"  Sartin  sure." 

O'Connell  proceeded  to  inspect  the  caubeen,  and  turned  up 
the  lining  as  he  looked  inside. 

"  Was  the  prisoner's  name,  PAT  HOGAN  [he  spelled 
each  letter  slowly],  in  it  at  the  time  you  found  it?" 


1 66  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


"  'T  was,  of  course." 

"  You  could  not  be  mistaken  ?  " 

"  No,  sir." 

"  And  all  you  sware  is  as  true  as  that  ?  " 

"  Quite." 

"  Then  go  off  the  table  this  minute  !  "  cried  O'Connell, 
triumphantly.  Addressing  the  Judge,  he  said  :  "  My  lord, 
there  can  be  no  conviction  here.  There  is  no  name  in  the 
hat !  " 

The  prisoner  was  at  once  acquitted. 

O'Connell  was  retained  in  a  Kerry  case  in  which  the  venue 
or  place  of  trial  (it  being  in  law  a  transitory  action)  was  laid 
in  Dublin.  O'Connell  was  instructed  to  try  and  change  the 
bench,  so  that  the  case  might  be  tried  in  Tralee.  This  mo- 
tion was  opposed,  and  Mr.  Scriven,  the  counsel  opposed  to 
O'Connell,  happened  to  be  a  gentleman  of  a  very  plain, 
even  forbidding  countenance,  and  of  high  tory  politics.  He 
stated  that  he  had  no  knowledge  of  Kerry,  and  had  never 
been  in  that  part  of  Ireland. 

"  Oh  !  "  replied  O'Connell,  "  we  '11  be  very  glad  to  wel- 
come my  learned  friend,  and  show  him  the  lovely  lakes  of 
Killarney." 

"  Yes,"  growled  Mr.  Scriven,  "  I  suppose  the  bottom  of 
them." 

"  No,  no,"  retorted  O'Connell ;  "  I  would  not  frighten  the 
fish!" 

The  criminal  law  in  the  days  of  O'Connell  was  much  more 
favourable  to  criminals  than  now,  when  indictments  may  be 
amended.  Many  of  O'Connell's  triumphs  in  defending  pris- 
oners were  owing  to  his  skill  in  detecting  flaws  in  the  indict- 
ments. Thus  a  man  was  charged  with  stealing  a  cow  ;  the 
prosecutor  swore  that  the  prisoner  was  caught  in  the  field 
where  he  left  the  cow  to  graze,  but  that  the  carcass  was 
found  in  the  next  field.  O'Connell  submitted  the  indict- 
ment was  bad,  for  when  the  cow  was  killed  it  was  no  longer 
a  cow  ;  and  if  the  prisoner  was  to  be  tried  for  stealing  a  dead 
animal,  it  should  be  so  stated.  He  relied  on  the  dictum  of 
Judge  Holroyd  that  an  indictment  for  stealing  a  dead  animal 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  l6? 


should  state  it  was  dead  ;  for  upon  a  general  statement  that 
a  party  stole  the  animal,  it  is  to  be  intended  that  he  stole  it 
alive.1 

The  court,  of  course,  held  the  indictment  bad,  and  directed 
the  jury  to  acquit  the  prisoner.  It  was  said  the  cow  in 
question  was  the  fattest  of  a  number  of  cows,  and  the  night 
on  which  it  was  killed  was  dark  as  pitch.  The  grateful  cat- 
tle-stealer  came  in  the  evening  to  O'Connell's  lodgings,  to 
thank  him  for  having  saved  his  life,  for  in  those  days  cattle- 
stealing  was  punished  by  hanging. 

"  How  did  you  contrive  to  select  the  fattest  cow  when  the 
night  was  quite  dark  ?  "  inquired  O'Connell,  wishing  to  in- 
crease his  stock  of  useful  knowledge. 

"  Well,  your  honour,  you  saved  my  life,"  replied  the  culprit, 
41  so  I  will  put  you  up  to  the  dodge.  When  you  go  to  steal 
a  cow,  and  wish,  av  coorse,  to  take  the  best — for  '  in  for  a 
penny  in  for  a  pound  ' — be  sure  to  take  her  that  's  on  the 
outside.  The  wakest  craturs  always  make  for  the  ditch  fer 
shelter,  but  the  fat  bastes  are  outside." 

O'Connell  died  at  Genoa,  on  the  i$th  of  May,  1847.  One 
of  O'Connell's  biographers  says  of  him  :  "  For  several  years 
he  went  the  Munster  Circuit,  and  gained  the  reputation  of 
being  the  best  criminal  lawyer  in  Europe.  He  was  called  to 
the  bar  in  the  troubled  year  of  1798,  and  having  relations  in 
almost  every  county  in  Munster,  he  naturally  selected  the 
Munster  Circuit.  He  had  great  personal  and  physical  ad- 
vantages— a  fine,  well-developed  figure,  clear  blue  eye,  feat- 
ures expressive  of  keen  intelligence,  and  a  voice  of  great 
power,  now  rolling  like  tones  of  a  grand  organ,  bursting 
forth  in  thunder,  then  dying  away  into  deep  pathos,  rushing 
into  rapid  declamation,  or,  if  engaged  in  denunciation,  pour- 
ing forth  epithets,  strong,  fierce,  and  stinging.  He  was  well 
versed  in  the  technicalities  of  his  profession,  and  soon  his 
large  practice,  and  the  necessary  reading  it  involved,  made 
him  a  first-rate  advocate.  Then  he  possessed  a  wonderful" 
knowledge  of  his  countrymen  ;  and  who  can  compete  with  a 
Kerry  man  ?  He  was  irresistibly  comic  when  a  joke  was 

1  Edwards's  Case,  Russell  and  Ryan,  497. 


1 68  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


needed,  and  no  man  was  more  sarcastic  when  vituperation 
was  required.  He  was  extremely  vigilant,  and  never  lost  a 
case  through  inattention.  It  was,  I  believe,  at  Tralee  he 
completely  silenced  an  attorney  who  defied  all  gentle  re- 
buke. This  individual  possessed  a  love  for  fighting  not  in- 
ferior to  the  Scotch  terrier  that  lost  his  appetite  when  he 
had  '  naething  to  worrit.'  His  person,  we  are  told,  was  in- 
dicative of  his  disposition.  His  face  was  bold,  menacing, 
and  scornful  in  its  expression.  He  had  stamped  upon  him 
the  defiance  and  resolution  of  a  pugilist.  Upon  either  tem- 
ple there  stood  erect  a  lock  of  hair  which  no  brush  could 
smooth  down.  The  locks  looked  like  horns,  and  added  to 
the  combative  expression  of  his  countenance.  He  was  fiery 
in  his  nature,  excessively  spirited,  and  ejaculated  rather  than 
spoke  to  an  audience  ;  his  speeches  consisting  of  a  series  of 
short,  hissing,  spluttering  sentences,  by  no  means  devoid  of 
talent  of  a  certain  kind.  .  .  . 

"Upon  the  occasion  referred  to,  this  irrepressible  attorney 
gave  O'Connell  great  annoyance.  He  interrupted  O'Connell 
several  times  ;  he  improperly  addressed  the  witnesses  as  they 
mounted  to  the  witness-chair,  and  altogether  was  quite  un- 
ruly. The  counsel  engaged  with  O'Connell  tried  to  keep 
him  quiet;  more  than  once  the  judge  severely  rebuked  his 
improper  interference — it  was  all  in  vain  ;  up  he  would  shoot 
like  a  Jack-in-a-box — hiss  out  some  remark  which  was  sure 
to  provoke  O'Connell.  At  last,  when  O'Connell  was  press- 
ing a  hostile  witness  with  a  vital  question,  which  the  witness 
was  seeking  to  evade  answering,  and  this  individual  again 
interfered,  as  if  for  the  purpose  of  annoyance,  O'Connell, 
losing  all  patience,  scowling  at  this  man  with  a  stern  coun- 
tenance, shouted,  in  a  voice  of  thunder,  '  Sit  down,  you 
audacious,  snarling,  pugnacious  ramcat !  '  We  are  told  the 
words  were  no  sooner  uttered  than  every  one  in  court  saw 
their  truth.  Judge,  jury,  counsel,  attorneys,  were  convulsed 
'with  laughter.  The  judge  extremely  enjoyed  the  happy 
epithets,  which  completely  suited  the  combative  attorney, 
who  gasped  with  suppressed  rage.  He  bore  the  sobriquet  of 
Ramcat  for  the  rest  of  his  natural  life.'* 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  169 


Canning. — George  Canning,  the  brilliant  English  orator, 
was  born  in  London,  on  the  nth  day  of  April,  1770.  After 
his  graduation  from  Oxford,  in  the  twenty-second  year  of  his 
age,  he  was  brought  into  parliament  by  William  Pitt,  who  had 
heard  of  his  oratorical  ability  and  talents,  and  who  was 
anxious  to  obtain  the  aid  of  such  men  as  Canning  to  resist 
the  tide  of  opposition. 

Mr.  Canning's  subsequent  conduct  justified  Pitt's  choice. 
In  Mr.  Canning  he  found  a  warm  friend,  a  faithful  follower, 
and  an  ardent  champion  of  his  political  measures,  and  after 
Mr.  Pitt's  death  he  paid  many  eloquent  tributes  to  his  mem- 
ory, and  before  he  himself  died  he  requested  that  in  death 
they  should  not  be  separated,  and  when  he  died  he  was 
buried  in  Westminster  Abbey,  at  the  foot  of  Mr.  Pitt's 
tomb. 

In  January,  1794,  Mr.  Canning  made  his  first  speech  in  the 
House  of  Commons.  His  oratorical  powers  commanded  re- 
spect, but  did  not  cause  that  enthusiastic  admiration  which, 
he  afterward  called  forth  when  he  reached  the  summit  of  his 
fame. 

In  his  speech  on  Bank-Notes  and  Coin,  in  1811,  Mr.  Can- 
ning said : 

"  Are  bank-notes  equivalent  to  the  legal  standard  coin  of 
the  realm  ?  This  is  the  question  which  divides  and  agitates 
the  public  opinion.  Says  the  right  honourable  gentleman, 
1 1  will  devise  a  mode  of  settling  this  question  to  the  satis- 
faction of  the  public.'  By  advising  a  proclamation  ?  No.  By 
bringing  a  bill  into  parliament  ?  No.  By  proposing  to  de- 
clare the  joint  opinion  of  both  houses,  or  the  separate  opinion 
of  one?  No.  By  what  process  then?  Why,  simply  by  telling 
the  disputants  that  they  are,  and  have  been  all  along,  however 
unconsciously,  agreed  upon  the  subject  of  their  variance  ;  and 
gravely  resolving  for  them,  respectively,  an  unanimous 
opinion !  This  is  the  very  judgment,  I  should  imagine, 
which  Milton  ascribes  to  the  venerable  Anarch,  whom  he 
represents  as  adjusting  the  disputes  of  the  conflicting 
element : 

'  Chaos  umpire  sits, 
And  by  decision  more  embroils  the  fray.' 


170  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


"  '  In  public  estimation/  says  the  right  honourable  gentle- 
man's resolution,  '  bank-notes  and  coin  are  equivalent/  In- 
deed !  What,  then,  is  become  of  all  those  persons  who,  for 
the  last  six  months,  have  been,  by  every  outward  and  visible 
indication,  evincing,  maintaining,  and  inculcating  an  opinion 
diametrically  opposite?  Who  wrote  that  multitude  of 
pamphlets,  with  the  recollection  of  which  one's  head  is  still 
dizzy  ?  Does  the  honourable  gentleman  apprehend  that  his 
arguments  must  have  wrought  their  conversion  ? 

"  When  Bonaparte,  not  long  ago,  was  desirous  of  reconcil- 
ing the  nations  under  his  dominion  to  the  privations  re- 
sulting from  the  exclusion  of  all  colonial  produce,  he 
published  an  edict,  which  commenced  in  something  like  the 
following  manner :  '  Whereas,  sugar  made  from  beet-root, 
or  the  maple-tree,  is  infinitely  preferable  to  that  of  the 
sugar-cane,' — and  he  then  proceeded  to  denounce  penalties 
against  those  who  should  persist  in  the  use  of  the  inferior 
commodity.  The  denunciation  might  be  more  effectual  than 
the  right  honourable  gentleman's  resolution,  but  the  pre- 
amble did  not  go  near  so  far;  for,  though  it  asserted  the 
superiority  of  the  maple  and  beet-root  sugar,  it  rested  that 
assertion  merely  on  the  authority  of  the  state,  and  did  not 
pretend  to  sanction  it  by  '  public  estimation.' 

"When  Galileo  first  promulgated  the  doctrine  that  the 
earth  turned  round  the  sun,  and  that  the  sun  remained 
stationary  in  the  centre  of  the  universe,  the  holy  fathers  of 
the  Inquisition  took  alarm  at  so  daring  an  innovation,  and 
forthwith  declared  the  first  of  these  propositions  to  be  false 
and  heretical,  and  the  other  to  be  erroneous  in  point  of  faith. 
The  Holy  Office  '  pledged  itself  to  believe '  that  the  earth 
was  stationary,  and  the  sun  movable.  This  pledge  had 
little  effect  in  changing  the  natural  course  of  things ;  the  sun 
and  the  earth  continued,  in  spite  of  it,  to  preserve  their 
accustomed  relations  to  each  other,  just  as  the  coin  and  the 
bank-note  will,  in  spite  of  the  right  honourable  gentleman's 
resolution. 

"  Let  us  leave  the  evil,  if  it  must  be  so,  to  the  chance  of 
a  gradual  and  noiseless  correction.  But  let  us  not  resolve, 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  ENGLA  ND.  1 7 1 


as  law,  what  is  an  incorrect  and  imperfect  exposition  of  the 
law.  Let  us  not  resolve,  as  fact,  what  is  contradictory  to 
universal  experience.  Let  us  not  expose  ourselves  to  ridi- 
cule by  resolving,  as  the  opinions  of  the  people,  opinions 
which  the  people  do  not,  and  which  it  is  impossible  they 
should,  entertain." 

On  Mr.  Tierney's  motion  December  n,  1798,  Mr.  Can- 
ning said : 

"  The  friendship  of  Holland  !  The  independence  of  Spain  ! 
Is  there  a  man  so  besotted  as  to  suppose  that  there  is  one 
hour  of  peace  with  France  preserved  by  either  of  these  un- 
happy countries,  that  there  is  one  syllable  of  friendship 
uttered  by  them  towards  France,  but  what  is  extorted  by 
the  immediate  pressure,  or  by  the  dread  and  terror,  of 
French  arms  ? — 

'  Mouth-honour,  breath, 
Which  the  poor  heart  would  fain  refuse,  but  dare  not  ! ' 

Have  the  regenerated  republic  of  Holland,  the  degraded 
monarchy  of  Spain,  such  reason  to  rejoice  in  the  protection 
of  the  French  republic,  that  they  would  voluntarily  throw 
themselves  between  her  and  any  blow  which  might  menace 
her  existence  ? 

"  But  does  the  honourable  gentleman  intend  his  motion 
as  a  motion  for  peace  ?  If  he  really  thinks  this  a  moment  for 
opening  a  negotiation,  why  has  he  not  the  candour  and  manli- 
ness to  say  so  ?  Mark,  I  entreat  you,  how  delicately  he 
manages  it !  He  will  not  speak  to  France,  but  he  would  speak 
at  her.  He  will  not  propose — not  he — that  we  should  say  to  the 
Directory,  '  Will  you  make  peace?  '  No,  sir;  we  are  merely 
to  say  to  ourselves,  loud  enough  for  the  Directory  to  over- 
hear us,  *  I  wish  these  French  gentlemen  would  make  an 
overture  to  us.'  Now,  sir,  does  this  save  the  dignity  of  the 
country?  or  is  it  only  a  sneaking,  shabby  way  of  doing  what, 
if  fit  to  be  done  at  all,  must,  to  have  any  serious  effect,  be 
done  openly,  unequivocally,  and  directly  ?  But  I  beg  the 
honourable  gentleman's  pardon  ; — I  misrepresent  him  ;  I 
certainly  do.  His  motion  does  not  amount  even  to  so  much 


1/2  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


as  I  have  stated.  He  begins  further  off.  The  soliloquy 
which  he  prompts  us,  by  his  motion,  is  no  more  than  this  : 
'  We  must  continue  to  make  war  against  France,  to  be  sure, 
— and  we  are  sorry  for  it ;  but  we  will  not  do  it  as  if  we  bore 
malice.  We  will  not  make  an  ill-natured,  hostile  kind  of 
war  any  longer, — that  we  wont.  And  who  knows  but,  if 
they  should  happen  to  overhear  this  resolution,  as  the  Di- 
rectory are  good-natured  at  bottom,  their  hearts  may  soften 
and  grow  kind  towards  us — and  then  they  will  offer  to  make  a 
peace  ! '  And  thus,  sir,  and  thus  only,  is  the  motion  a 
motion  for  peace. 

"  Since  then,  sir,  this  motion  appears  to  me  to  be  founded 
on  no  principle  of  policy  or  necessity  ;  since,  if  it  be  intended 
for  a  censure  on  ministers,  it  is  unjust, — if  for  a  control,  it  is 
nugatory ;  as  its  tendency  is  to  impair  the  power  of  prose- 
cuting war  with  vigour,  and  to  diminish  the  chance  of  nego- 
tiating peace  with  dignity,  or  concluding  it  with  safety  ;  as 
it  contradicts,  without  reason,  and  without  advantage,  the 
established  policy  of  our  ancestors  ;  as  it  must  degrade  in 
the  eyes  of  the  world  the  character  of  this  country ;  as  it 
must  carry  dismay  and  terror  throughout  Europe:  and, 
above  all,  as  it  must  administer  consolation,  and  hope, 
and  power,  and  confidence,  to  France, — I  shall  give  it  my 
most  hearty  and  decided  negative." 

On  Men  and  Measures,  Mr.  Canning  expressed  the 
following  sentiments  : 

"  If  I  am  pushed  to  the  wall,  and  forced  to  speak  my 
opinion,  I  have  no  disguise  nor  reservation : — I  do  think 
that  this  is  a  time  when  the  administration  of  the  govern- 
ment ought  to  be  in  the  ablest  and  fittest  hands;  I  do  not 
think  the  hands  in  which  it  is  now  placed  answer  to  that 
description.  I  do  not  pretend  to  conceal  in  what  quarter  I 
think  that  fitness  most  eminently  resides  ;  I  do  not  subscribe 
to  the  doctrines  which  have  been  advanced,  that,  in  times 
like  the  present,  the  fitness  of  individuals  for  their  political 
situation  is  no  part  of  the  consideration  to  which  a  member 
of  parliament  may  fairly  turn  his  attention.  I  know  not  a 
more  solemn  or  important  duty  that  a  member  of  parliament 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  173 


can  have  to  discharge,  than  by  giving,  at  fit  seasons,  a  free 
opinion  upon  the  character  and  qualities  of  public  men. 
Away  with  the  cant  of  '  measures,  not  men  ! '  the  idle  sup- 
position that  it  is  the  harness,  and  not  the  horses,  that  draw 
the  chariot  along!  No,  sir;  if  the  comparison  must  be 
made,  if  the  distinction  must  be  taken,  men  are  everything, 
measures  comparatively  nothing.  I  speak,  sir,  of  times  of 
difficulty  and  danger ;  of  times  when  systems  are  shaken, 
when  precedents  and  general  rules  of  conduct  fail.  Then  it 
is  that,  not  to  this  or  that  measure,  however  prudently 
devised,  however  blameless  in  execution, — but  to  the  energy 
and  character  of  individuals,  a  state  must  be  indebted  for 
its  salvation.  Then  it  is  that  kingdoms  rise  or  fall  in  pro- 
portion as  they  are  upheld,  not  by  well-meant  endeavours 
(laudable  though  they  may  be),  but  by  commanding,  over- 
awing talents, — by  able  men. 

"  And  what  is  the  nature  of  the  times  in  which  we  live? 
Look  at  France,  and  see  what  we  have  to  cope  with,  and 
consider  what  has  made  her  what  she  is.  A  man !  You 
will  tell  me  that  she  was  great,  and  powerful,  and  formid- 
able, before  the  days  of  Bonaparte's  government ;  that  he 
found  in  her  great  physical  and  moral  resources ;  that  he 
had  but  to  turn  them  to  account.  True,  and  he  did  so. 
-Compare  the  situation  in  which  he  found  France  with  that 
to  which  he  has  raised  her.  I  am  no  panegyrist  of  Bona- 
parte ;  but  I  cannot  shut  my  eyes  to  the  superiority  of  his 
talents,  to  the  amazing  ascendancy  of  his  genius.  Tell  me 
not  of  his  measures  and  his  policy.  It  is  his  genius,  his 
character,  that  keeps  the  world  in  awe.  Sir,  to  meet,  to 
check,  to  curb,  to  stand  up  against  him,  we  want  arms  of  the 
same  kind.  I  am  far  from  objecting  to  the  large  military 
establishments  which  are  proposed  to  you.  I  vote  for  them 
with  all  my  heart.  But,  for  the  purpose  of  coping  with 
Bonaparte,  one  great,  commanding  spirit  is  worth  them  all." 

On  the  Philosophy  of  Hatred,  Mr.  Canning  made  the 
following  remarks : 

"  My  honourable  friend  has  expended  abundant  research 
and  subtility  upon  this  inquiry,  and  having  resolved  the 


1/4  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


phrase  into  its  elements,  in  the  crucible  of  his  philosophical 
mind,  has  produced  it  to  us  purified  and  refined,  to  a  degree 
that  must  command  the  admiration  of  all  who  take  delight 
in  metaphysical  alchemy.  My  honourable  and  learned 
friend  began  by  telling  us,  that,  after  all,  hatred  is  no  bad 
thing  in  itself.  '  I  hate  a  tory/  says  my  honourable  friend— 
'and  another  man  hates  a  cat ;  but  it  does  not  follow  that 
he  would  hunt  down  the  cat,  or  I  the  tory.*  Nay,  so  far 
from  it — hatred,  if  it  be  properly  managed,  is,  according  to 
my  honourable  friend's  theory,  no  bad  preface  to  a  rational 
esteem  and  affection.  It  prepares  its  votaries  fora  reconcili- 
ation of  differences — for  lying  down  with  their  most  invet- 
erate enemies,  like  the  leopard  and  the  kid,  in  the  vision  of 
the  prophet.  This  dogma  is  a  little  startling,  but  it  is  not 
altogether  without  precedent.  It  is  borrowed  from  a  char- 
acter in  a  play  which  is,  I  dare  say,  as  great  a  favourite*  with 
my  learned  friend  as  it  is  with  me :  I  mean,  the  comedy  of 
The  Rivals ;  in  which  Mrs.  Malaprop,  giving  a  lecture  on 
the  subject  of  marriage  to  her  niece,  (who  is  unreasonable 
enough  to  talk  of  liking,  as  a  necessary  preliminary  to  such 
an  union,)  says:  'What  have  you  to  do  with  your  likings 
and  your  preferences,  child  ?  Depend  upon  it,  it  is  safest  to 
begin  with  a  little  aversion.  I  am  sure  I  hated  your  poor 
dear  uncle  like  a  blackamoor,  before  we  were  married  ;  and 
yet  you  know,  my  dear,  what  a  good  wife  I  made  him/ 
Such  is  my  learned  friend's  argument  to  a  hair.  But  finding 
that  this  doctrine  did  not  appear  to  go  down  with  the  house 
so  glibly  as  he  had  expected,  my  honourable  and  learned 
friend  presently  changed  his  tack,  and  put  forward  a  theory 
which,  whether  for  novelty  or  for  beauty,  I  pronounce  to  be 
incomparable,  and,  in  short,  as  wanting  nothing  to  recommend 
it  but  a  slight  foundation  in  truth.  '  True  philosophy,'  says  my 
honourable  friend,  '  will  always  continue  to  lead  men  to  virtue 
by  the  instrumentality  of  their  conflicting  vices.  The  vir- 
tues, where  more  than  one  exist,  may  live  harmoniously 
together  ;  but  the  vices  bear  moral  antipathy  to  one  another, 
and  therefore  furnish,  to  the  moral  engineer,  the  power  by 
which  he  can  make  each  keep  the  other  under  control.' 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  ENGLAND.  1 7$ 


Admirable !  but,  upon  this  doctrine,  the  poor  man  who  has 
but  one  single  vice  must  be  in  a  very  bad  way.  No  fulcrum, 
no  moral  power  for  effecting  his  cure.  Whereas  his  more 
fortunate  neighbour,  who  has  two  or  more  vices  in  his  com- 
position, is  in  a  fair  way  of  becoming  a  very  virtuous  mem- 
ber of  society.  I  wonder  how  my  learned  friend  would  like 
to  have  this  doctrine  introduced  into  his  domestic  establish- 
ment. For  instance,  suppose  that  I  discharge  a  servant 
because  he  is  addicted  to  liquor,  I  could  not  venture  to 
recommend  him  to  my  honourable  and  learned  friend.  It 
might  be  the  poor  man's  only  fault,  and  therefore  clearly 
incorrigible.  But  if  I  had  the  good  fortune  to  find  out  that 
he  was  also  addicted  to  stealing,  might  I  not,  with  a  safe 
conscience,  send  him  to  my  learned  friend  with  a  strong 
recommendation,  saying,  I  send  you  a  man  whom  I  know  to 
be  a  drunkard,  but  I  am  happy  to  assure  you  he  is  also  a 
thief ;  you  cannot  do  better  than  employ  him  ;  you  will 
make  his  drunkenness  counteract  his  thievery,  and  no  doubt 
you  will  bring  him  out  of  the  conflict  a  very  moral 
personage  ?  " 

Mr.  Canning  dressed  plainly,  but  in  excellent  taste.  He 
seemed  to  partake,  in  most  things,  of  the  character  of  his 
eloquence :  open  and  manly,  with  that  consciousness  of 
power  which  is  consistent  with  modesty,  and  consequently 
simple  and  unpretentious. 

In  the  prime  of  life,  he  was  a  handsome  man,  tall,  well- 
formed,  strong,  and  active. 

He  had  a  mild  and  expressive  countenance  indicative  of 
intellect  and  firmness.  His  head  was  bald,  his  forehead 
lofty  and  broad,  "  his  eyes  reflective  and  at  times  lively." 

Lord  Brougham  has  given  us  the  following  estimate  of 
his  oratory : 

"  His  declamation,  though  often  powerful,  always  beauti- 
fully ornate,  never  deficient  in  admirable  diction,  was  cer- 
tainly not  of  the  highest  class.  It  wanted  depth ;  it  came 
from  the  mouth,  not  from  the  heart ;  and  it  tickled  or  even 
filled  the  ear  rather  than  penetrated  the  bosom  of  the  lis- 
tener. The  orator  never  seemed  to  forget  himself  and  be 


176  HISTORY   OF  ORATORY. 


absorbed  in  his  theme  ;  he  was  not  carried  away  by  his 
passions,  and  he  carried  not  his  audience  along  with  him. 
An  actor  stood  before  us,  a  first-rate  one,  no  doubt,  but  still 
an  actor ;  and  we  never  forgot  that  it  was  a  representation 
we  were  witnessing,  not  a  real  scene.  The  Grecian  artist 
was  of  the  second  class  only,  at  whose  fruit  the  birds  pecked  ; 
while,  on  seeing  Parrhasius's  picture,  men  cried  out  to  have 
the  curtain  drawn  aside.  Mr.  Canning's  declamation  en- 
tertained his  hearers,  so  artistically  was  it  executed ;  but 
only  an  inexperienced  critic  could  mistake  it  for  the  highest 
reach  of  rhetorical  art.  The  truly  great  orator  is  he  who 
carries  away  his  hearer,  or  fixes  his  whole  attention  on  the 
subject — with  the  subject  fills  his  whole  soul — than  the  sub- 
ject, will  suffer  him  to  think  of  no  other  thing — of  the 
subject's  existence  alone  will  let  him  be  conscious,  while 
the  vehement  inspiration  lasts  on  his  own  mind  which  he 
communicates  to  his  hearer — and  will  only  suffer  him  to  re- 
flect on  the  admirable  execution  of  what  he  has  heard  after 
the  burst  is  over,  the  whirlwind  has  passed  away,  and  the  ex- 
cited feelings  have  in  the  succeeding  lull  sunk  into  repose." 

Brougham. — Henry  Brougham  was  born  in  Edinburgh 
on  the  I  Qth  day  of  September,  1779.  He  obtained  the 
rudiments  of  his  education  at  the  High  School  in  that  city. 

He  entered  the  University  of  Edinburgh  at  the  age  of 
sixteen,  and  soon  became  noted  for  his  attainments  in 
mathematical  studies.  His  knowledge  of  science  was,  in- 
deed, extraordinary  for  one  so  young.  Before  he  was 
seventeen  years  of  age,  his  essay  on  the  "  Flection  and 
Reflection  of  Light  was  inserted  in  the  Edinburgh  Philo- 
sophical Transactions. 

After  completing  his  college  course,  Mr.  Brougham 
studied  law,  as  a  profession.  He  was  soon  called  to  the 
bar,  and  began  his  practice  with  great  success  in  Edinburgh. 
He  gave  a  large  share  of  his  time  to  history,  politics,  and 
literature,  besides  attending  to  his  legal  business. 

Brougham  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  men  of 
modern  times.  He  was  a  lawyer,  a  statesman,  an  author, 
and  a  scientist. 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  I// 


Lord  Campbell,  who  does  not  do  him  justice,  in  his 
Lives  of  tJie  CJiancellors,  after  reciting  the  fact  that  in 
parliament  he  spoke  on  every  occasion  and  on  every  sub- 
ject, says  that  in  his  opinion,  "  of  all  the  sons  of  men, 
since  the  flood  at  least,  Brougham  had  uttered  the  most 
words  by  far."  It  has  been  the  fashion,  of  late,  to  speak 
slightingly  of  Brougham's  ability  as  a  lawyer,  but  his  critics 
indulge  in  general  observations,  and  fail  to  give  particular 
instances  which  prove  their  statements  to  be  true.  He  had, 
at  the  time  of  his  elevation  to  the  bench,  a  lucrative  prac- 
tice, and  as  he  was  employed  in  many  of  the  most  import- 
ant causes  which  were  tried  while  he  was  at  the  bar,  and 
was  opposed  to  the  greatest  advocates  of  his  day,  his  ineffi- 
ciency or  shallowness  would  have  soon  been  shown  if  he 
had  not  been  a  well  read  lawyer  and  an  accomplished  advo- 
cate. His  stock  of  knowledge  was  simply  prodigious. 
Campbell  says  :  "  If  shut  up  in  a  tower  without  books,  at 
the  end  of  a  year  he  would  have  produced  (barring  a  few 
ludicrous  blunders)  a  very  tolerable  Encyclopedia" 

If  Brougham  had  known  less  of  other  subjects,  his  critics 
would  have  doubtless  thought  him  a  more  profound  lawyer. 
The  world  will  not  tolerate  an  assumption  of  universal 
knowledge,  even  if  it  is  well  founded. 

In  trivial  causes  Brougham  could  not  rouse  himself  to 
take  the  interest  he  always  manifested  in  important  mat- 
ters. In  cases  involving  any  great  principle  of  civil  or 
religious  liberty,  Brougham  was  perhaps  the  equal  of  any 
of  his  contemporaries.  It  is  said  that  he  usually  rose,  "in 
a  calm  and  collected  manner,  enunciated  a  few  sentences 
in  a  subdued  tone,  expressive  of  the  sense  he  entertained  of 
the  importance  of  the  task  he  had  undertaken,  and  solicited 
the  indulgence  of  the  jury  while  he  trespassed  on  their 
attention  for  a  short  time.  He  then  proceeded,  in  slow 
accents  and  in  measured  sentences,  to  develop  the  gener- 
alities of  the  case,  gradually  rising  in  animation  of  manner 
and  increasing  in  the  loudness  of  his  voice  and  the  rapidity 
of  his  utterance,  until  he  arrived  at  the  most  important  parts 
of  his  subject.  The  first  indication  he  usually  gave  of 


1/8  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


having  reached  those  points  in  his  speech  to  which  he  meant 
to  apply  all  the  energies  of  his  mind,  was  that  of  pulling  his 
gown  further  up  on  his  shoulders,  and  putting  his  tall,  gaunt 
figure  into  as  erect  and  commanding  a  posture  as  he  could 
assume  without  endangering  his  equilibrium.  Then  came 
his  vehement  gesticulation — the  rapid  movement  of  his  right 
arm,  with  an  occasional  wafture  of  the  left  hand,  and  the 
turning  and  twisting  of  his  body  into  every  variety  of  form. 
His  eye,  which  before  was  destitute  of  fire,  and  his  features, 
which  were  composed  and  placid  as  those  of  a  marble  statue, 
were  now  pressed  as  auxiliaries  into  the  service  of  his  client. 
His  eye  flashed  with  the  fire  of  one  whose  bosom  heaved 
with  tumultuous  emotions,  and  the  whole  expression  of  his 
face  was  that  of  a  man  whose  mind  was  worked  up  to  the 
utmost  intensity  of  feeling.  And  this  was  really  the  case 
with  Brougham  wherever  the  interests  of  his  client  were 
identified  with  some  great  principle. 

"  To  have  seen  him  in  some  of  these  moods  was  truly  a 
spectacle  worthy  of  name.  It  was  only  on  such  occasions 
that  any  accurate  estimate  could  be  formed  of  the  vast  re- 
sources of  his  mind.  He  then  poured  from  his  lips  strains 
of  the  loftiest  order  of  eloquence.  Idea  followed  idea, 
principle  succeeded  principle,  illustration  accompanied  illus- 
tration with  a  rapidity  which  was  astonishing.  One  moment 
he  was  strictly  argumentative — the  next  declamatory.  Now 
he  stated,  in  a  winning  language  and  in  an  engaging  manner, 
whatever  was  in  favour  of  his  client — then  he  inveighed  in 
the  fiercest  strains  and  in  tones  which  resounded  through 
the  place  in  which  he  spoke,  against  that  client's  opponent. 
In  such  moments  there  would  have  been  something  abso- 
lutely withering  to  him  against  whom  his  denunciations  were 
directed  in  the  very  countenance  of  the  orator,  even  had  he 
not  uttered  a  word.  His  dark,  bristly  hair  stood  on  end,  or 
at  least  appeared  to  do  so.  His  brow  was  knit.  There  was 
a  piercing  stare  and  wildness  in  his  eye  ;  and  his  sallow  com- 
plexion and  haggard  features  altogether  presented  an  aspect 
which  it  was  frightful  to  behold.  The  jury  on  such  occasions 
often  forgot  the  purpose  for  which  they  had  been  called  into 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  179 


court  ;  they  forgot  the  case  in  the  advocate.  He  diverted 
their  minds  from  the  subject-matter  before  them  to  himself. 
They  lost  sight,  for  the  moment,  of  the  merits  of  the  case 
they  were  impanelled  to  decide,  in  their  boundless  admira- 
tion of  the  gigantic  talents  and  brilliant  eloquence  of  the 
speaker. 

11  The  jury  often,  in  some  of  Brougham's  happier  ef- 
forts, forgot,  for  the  time,  that  they  were  jurymen.  In 
the  court  not  a  breath  was  to  be  heard  ;  all  was  still,  save 
his  own  powerful  though  somewhat  harsh  voice.  In  his 
denunciations  of  witnesses  whose  testimony  had  made 
against  his  client,  he  was  terrible.  And  yet,  notwithstand- 
ing all  the  vehemence  of  his  manner,  and  the  intensity  of 
passion  into  which  he  worked  himself,  his  speeches,  though 
he  sometimes  purposely  wandered  from  the  principal  point 
before  the  court,  were  as  well  arranged,  and  every  sentence 
was  as  correctly  constructed — that  is  to  say,  according  to 
the  massy  and  involved  style  which  he  always  preferred — 
as  they  could  have  been  had  he  been  speaking  in  the  calm- 
est and  most  collected  manner.  He  seldom  displayed  much 
legal  knowledge  ;  and  though  he  could  on  occasion  argue 
closely,  he  very  rarely  in  his  greatest  efforts  exhibited  much 
of  argumentative  acuteness.  He  disdained,  indeed,  when 
he  threw  his  whole  soul  into  his  speeches,  to  be  fettered  by 
what  he  considered  in  such  a  case  the  trammels  of  law  or 
logic.  Hence  he  could  not  so  well  be  said  to  have  gained 
the  great  triumphs  he  so  often  achieved  at  the  bar  by  con- 
vincing, as  by  confounding,  the  jury, — just  as  we  often  see  a 
person  silenced  rather  than  convinced  by  the  dexterity  of  a 
skilful  disputant.  Mr.  Brougham  may  be  said  to  have  taken 
the  jury  on  such  occasions  by  storm.  He  compelled  them  to 
surrender  themselves  to  him.  His  appeals  to  their  feelings 
and  passions  were  so  powerful,  and  his  eloquence  so  dazzling, 
that  he  deprived  them  for  a  time  of  the  capacity  of  dis- 
passionately examining  and  comparing  the  conflicting  evi- 
dence on  either  side.  It  is  true  that  the  cool  and  careful 
summing  up  of  the  judge  followed  his  address  ;  but  the 
impressions  made  on  their  minds  by  that  address  were  not 


180  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


yet  effaced.  Apparently  they  were  all  attention  to  the 
statements  and  observations  of  the  judge,  but  in  reality 
they  scarcely  knew  what  he  was  saying.  The  penetrating 
and  expressive  looks  of  Brougham  still  haunted  their  mental 
vision  ;  his  vehement  and  impressive,  though  often  uncouth, 
gesticulation  was  still  before  them ;  the  deep  and  varied  in- 
tonations of  his  voice  still  rang  in  their  ears  ;  and  the  matchless 
and  overwhelming  brilliance  of  his  eloquence  continued  to 
exert  its  way  in  their  minds  to  the  exclusion  of  everything 
else.  It  is  in  this  way  alone  that  the  fact  can  be  accounted 
for,  that  he  often  extorted  a  verdict  from  the  jury  in  favour 
of  his  client  when  it  was  equally  notorious  to  the  bench  and 
every  professional  gentleman  in  court,  that  all  the  law  and 
the  argument  were  on  the  opposite  side." 

Lord  Brougham  sometimes  prepared  speeches  which  he 
delivered  to  juries,  but  ordinarily  he  is  said  to  have  spoken 
without  having  made  the  least  previous  preparation,  farther 
than  making  himself  acquainted  with  the  facts  in  the  case. 
No  one  had  the  ability  to  master  the  details  of  a  case  more 
perfectly  than  Brougham  in  the  short  time  he  usually  de- 
voted to  this  task.  He  was  resourceful,  and  he  depended 
upon  the  inspiration  of  the  moment  for  the  language  he 
used.  But  when  he  was  to  speak  on  an  extraordinary  occa- 
sion he  prepared  his  speeches,  or  at  least  portions  of  them, 
with  great  care.  He  prepared  the  peroration  of  his  speech 
before  the  House  of  Lords  in  Queen  Caroline's  case  with 
such  care  that  he  re-wrote  it  no  less  than  seventeen  times 
before  it  suited  him. 

Sergeant  Talfourd's  estimate  of  Lord  Brougham  as  an 
advocate  is  both  interesting  and  instructive.  He  said  of 
him :  "  Mr.  Brougham  may,  at  first,  appear  to  form  an  ex- 
ception to  the  doctrines  we  have  endeavoured  to  establish  ; 
but,  on  attentive  consideration,  will  be  found  their  most 
striking  example.  True  ijt  is  that  this  extraordinary  man, 
who,  without  high  birth,  splendid  fortune,  or  aristocratic 
connection,  has,  by  mere  intellectual  power,  become  the 
parliamentary  leader  of  the  whigs  of  England,  is  at  last  be- 
ginning to  succeed  in  the  profession  he  has  condescended  to 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  ENGLAND.  1 8 1 


follow.  But,  stupendous  as  his  abilities,  and  various  as  his 
acquisitions  are,  he  has  that  one  presiding  faculty,  imagi- 
nation, which,  as  it  concentrates  all  others,  chiefly  renders 
them  unavailing  for  inferior  uses.  Mr.  Brougham's  powers 
are  not  thus  united  and  rendered  unwieldy  and  prodigious, 
but  remain  apart,  and  neither  assist  nor  impede  each  other. 
The  same  speech,  indeed,  may  give  scope  to  several  talents— 
to  lucid  narration,  to  brilliant  wit,  to  irresistible  reasoning, 
and  even  to  heart-touching  pathos  ;  but  these  will  be  found 
in  parcels,  not  blended  and  interfused  in  one  superhuman 
burst  of  passionate  eloquence.  The  single  power  in  which 
he  excels  all  others  is  sarcasm,  and  his  deepest  inspiration — 
scorn.  Hence  he  can  awaken  terror  and  shame  far  better 
than  he  can  melt,  agitate,  and  raise.  Animated  by  this 
blasting  spirit,  he  can  '  bare  the  mean  hearts '  which  *  lurk 
beneath '  a  hundred  '  stars/  and  smite  a  majority  of  lordly 
persecutors  into  the  dust !  His  power  is  all  directed  to  the 
practical  and  earthy.  It  is  rather  that  of  a  giant  than  a 
magician  ;  of  Briareus  than  of  Prospero.  He  can  do  a  hun- 
dred things  well,  and  almost  at  once ;  but  he  cannot  do  the 
one  highest  thing :  he  cannot  by  a  single  touch  reveal  the 
hidden  treasures  of  the  soul,  and  astonish  the  world  with 
truth  and  beauty  unknown  till  disclosed  at  his  bidding. 
Over  his  vast  domain  he  ranges  with  amazing  activity, 
and  is  a  different  man  in  each  province  which  he  occu- 
pies. He  is  not  one  but  legion.  At  three  in  the  morn- 
ing he  will  make  a  reply  in  parliament,  which  shall 
blanch  the  cheeks  and  appal  the  hearts  of  his  ene- 
mies ;  and  at  half  past  nine  he  will  be  found  at  his 
place  in  court,  working  out  a  case,  in  which  a  bill  of  five 
pounds  is  disputed,  with  all  the  plodding  care  of  the  most 
laborious  junior.  This  multiplicity  of  avocation,  and  divi- 
sion of  talent,  suit  the  temper  of  his  constitution  and  mind. 
Not  only  does  he  accomplish  a  greater  variety  of  purposes 
than  any  other  man — not  only  does  he  give  anxious  atten- 
tion to  every  petty  cause,  while  he  is  fighting  a  great  politi- 
cal battle,  and  weighing  the  relative  interests  of  nations — 
not  only  does  he  write  an  article  for  the  Edinburgh  Review, 


1 82  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


while  contesting  a  county,  and  prepare  complicated  argu- 
ments on  Scotch  appeals  by  way  of  rest  from  his  generous 
endeavours  to  educate  a  people ;  but  he  does  all  this  as  if  it 
were  perfectly  natural  to  him,  in  a  manner  so  unpretending 
and  quiet,  that  a  stranger  would  think  him  a  merry  gentle- 
man, who  had  nothing  to  do  but  to  enjoy  himself  and  fas- 
cinate others.  The  fire  which  burns  in  the  tough  fibres  of 
his  intellect  does  not  quicken  his  pulse,  or  kindle  his  blood 
to  more  than  a  genial  warmth.  He,  therefore,  is  one  man 
in  the  senate,  another  in  the  study,  another  in  a  committee 
room,  and  another  in  a  petty  cause ;  and  consequently  is 
never  above  the  work  which  he  has  to  perform.  His  powers 
are  all  as  distinct  and  as  ready  for  use  as  those  of  the  most 
accomplished  of  Old  Bailey  practitioners.  His  most  remark- 
able faculty,  taken  singly,  the  power  of  sarcasm,  can  be 
understood  even  by  a  Lancaster  jury.  And  yet,  though 
worthy  to  rank  with  statesmen  before  whom  Erskine  sank 
into  insignificance,  and  though  following  his  profession  with 
zeal  and  perseverance  almost  unequalled,  he  has  hardly 
been  able  to  conquer  the  impediment  of  that  splendid 
r-eputation,  which  to  any  other  man  must  have  been  fatal." 

Brougham  was  greatly  interested  in  the  question  of  Law 
Reform,  and  the  following  extract  from  his  speech  on  that 
subject  affords  a  good  specimen  of  his  manner : 

"  You  saw  the  greatest  warrior  of  the  age, — conqueror  of 
Italy,  humbler  of  Germany,  terror  of  the  North, — saw  him 
account  all  his  matchless  victories  poor  compared  with  the 
triumph  you  are  now  in  a  condition  to  win, — saw  him  con- 
temn the  fickleness  of  fortune,  while  in  despite  of  her  he 
could  pronounce  his  memorable  boast :  '  I  shall  go  down  to 
posterity  with  the  Code  in  my  hand.'  You  have  vanquished 
him  in  the  field ;  strive  now  to  rival  him  in  the  sacred  arts 
of  peace !  Outstrip  him  as  lawyer  whom  in  arms  you  over- 
came !  The  lustre  of  the  Regency  will  be  eclipsed  by  the 
more  solid  and  enduring  splendour  of  the  Reign.  It  was 
the  boast  of  Augustus, — it  formed  part  of  the  glare  in  which 
the  perfidies  of  his  earlier  years  were  lost, — that  he  found 
Rome  of  brick  and  left  it  of  marble.  But  how  much  nobler 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND,  183 


will  be  the  Sovereign's  boast  when  he  shall  have  it  to  say, 
that  he  found  law  dear  and  left  it  cheap  ;  found  it  a  sealed 
book,  left  it  a  living  letter;  found  it  the  patrimony  of  the 
rich,  left  it  the  inheritance  of  the  poor ;  found  it  the  two- 
edged  sword  of  craft  and  oppression,  left  it  the  staff  of 
honesty  and  the  shield  of  innocence  !  " 

That  he  could  be  severe  when  tried,  the  following  quota- 
tion from  his  speech  in  the  House  of  Lords  on  the  Emanci- 
pation of  Negro  Apprentices,  will  afford  ample  evidence : 

"  I  have  read  with  astonishment  and  I  repel  with  scorn 
the  insinuation  that  I  had  acted  the  part  of  an  advocate,  and 
that  some  of  my  statements  were  collected  to  serve  a  cause. 
How  dares  any  man  so  to  accuse  me?  How  dares  anyone, 
skulking  under  a  fictitious  name,  to  launch  his  slanderous 
imputations  from  his  covert  ?  I  come  forward  in  my  own 
person.  I  make  the  charge  in  the  face  of  day.  I  drag  the 
criminal  to  trial.  I  openly  call  down  justice  on  his  head. 
I  defy  his  attacks.  I  defy  his  defenders.  I  challenge  inves- 
tigation. How  dares  any  concealed  adversary  to  charge  me 
as  an  advocate  speaking  from  a  brief,  and  misrepresenting 
the  facts  to  serve  a  purpose  ?  But  the  absurdity  of  this 
charge  even  outstrips  its  malice." 

Lord  Brougham  had  a  just  appreciation  of  the  character 
•of  Washington,  and  paid  him  the  following  tribute : 

"  How  grateful  the  relief  which  the  friend  of  mankind,  the 
lover  of  virtue,  experiences,  when,  turning  from  the  con- 
templation of  such  a  character  as  Napoleon,  his  eye  rests 
upon  the  greatest  man  of  our  own  or  any  age, — the  only 
man  upon  whom  an  epithet,  so  thoughtlessly  lavished  by 
men,  to  foster  the  crimes  of  their  worst  enemies,  may  be 
innocently  and  justly  bestowed ! 

"  This  eminent  person  is  presented  to  our  observation, 
clothed  in  attributes  as  modest,  as  unpretending,  as  little 
calculated  to  strike  or  to  astonish,  as  if  he  had  passed 
unknown  through  some  secluded  region  of  private  life.  But 
he  had  a  judgment  sure  and  sound ;  a  steadiness  of  mind 
which  never  suffered  any  passion,  or  even  any  feeling,  to 
ruffle  its  calm;  a  strength  of  understanding  which  worked 


1 84  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


rather  than  forced  its  way  through  all  obstacles, — remov- 
ing or  avoiding  rather  than  overleaping  them. 

"  If  these  things,  joined  to  the  most  absolute  self-denial, 
the  most  habitual  and  exclusive  devotion  to  principle,  can 
constitute  a  great  character,  without  either  quickness  of  ap- 
prehension, remarkable  resources  of  information,  or  inven- 
tive powers,  or  any  brilliant  quality  that  might  dazzle  the 
vulgar, — then  surely  Washington  was  the  greatest  man  that 
ever  lived  in  this  world,  uninspired  by  divine  wisdom,  and 
unsustained  by  supernatural  virtue. 

"  His  courage,  whether  in  battle  or  in  council,  was  as  per- 
fect as  might  be  expected  from  this  pure  and  steady  temper 
of  soul.  A  perfect  just  man,  with  a  thoroughly  firm  resolu- 
tion never  to  be  misled  by  others,  any  more  than  to  be  by 
others  overawed  ;  never  to  be  seduced  or  betrayed,  or  hur- 
ried away  by  his  own  weaknesses  or  self-delusions,  any  more 
than  by  other  men's  arts ;  nor  ever  to  be  disheartened  by 
the  most  complicated  difficulties,  any  more  than  to  be 
spoilt  on  the  giddy  heights  of  fortune  ; — such  was  this  great 
man. 

"Great  he  was,  pre-eminently  great,  whether  we  regard  him 
sustaining  alone  the  whole  weight  of  '  campaigns  all  but  des- 
perate, or  gloriously  terminating  a  just  warfare  by  his  re- 
sources and  his  courage  ;  presiding  over  the  jarring  elements 
of  his  political  council,  alike  deaf  to  the  storms  of  all  ex- 
tremes, or  directing  the  formation  of  a  new  government  for 
a  great  people,  the  first  time  that  so  vast  an  experiment  had 
ever  been  tried  by  man  ;  or,  finally,  retiring  from  the  su- 
preme power  to  which  his  virtue  had  raised  him  over  the 
nation  he  had  created,  and  whose  destinies  he  had  guided  as 
long  as  his  aid  was  required, — retiring  with  the  veneration 
of  all  parties,  of  all  nations,  of  all  mankind,  in  order  that  the 
rights  of  men  might  be  conserved,  and  that  his  example 
never  might  be  appealed  to  by  vulgar  tyrants. 

"  This  is  the  consummate  glory  of  Washington  :  a  trium- 
phant warrior  where  the  most  sanguine  had  a  right  to  de- 
spair; a  successful  ruler  in  all  the  difficulties  of  a  course 
wholly  untried  ;  but  a  warrior,  whose  sword  only  left  its 


OKA  TOR  Y  IN  ENGLAND.  185 


sheath  when  the  first  law  of  our  nature  commanded  it  to  be 
drawn  ;  and  a  ruler  who,  having  tasted  of  supreme  power, 
gently  and  unostentatiously  desired  that  the  cup  might  pass 
from  him,  nor  would  suffer  more  to  wet  his  lips  than  the 
most  solemn  and  sacred  duty  to  his  country  and  his  God 
required  ! 

"  To  his  latest  breath  did  this  great  patriot  maintain  the 
noble  character  of  a  captain  the  patron  of  peace,  and  a 
statesman  the  friend  of  justice.  Dying,  he  bequeathed  to 
his  heirs  the  sword  which  he  had  worn  in  the  war  for  liberty, 
and  charged  them  '  never  to  take  it  from  the  scabbard  but 
in  self-defence,  or  in  defence  of  their  country  and  her  free- 
dom ' ;  and  commanded  them  that,  'when  it  should  thus  be 
drawn,  they  should  never  sheathe  it,  nor  ever  give  it  up,  but 
prefer  falling  with  it  in  their  hands  to  the  relinquishment 
thereof,' — words,  the  majesty  and  simple  eloquence  of 
which  are  not  surpassed  in  the  oratory  of  Athens  and 
Rome. 

"  It  will  be  the  duty  of  the  historian  and  the  sage,  in  all 
ages,  to  let  no  occasion  pass  of  commemorating  this  illustri- 
ous man  ;  and,  until  time  shall  be  no  more,  will  a  test  of  the 
progress  which  our  race  has  made  in  wisdom  and  in  virtue 
be  derived  from  the  veneration  paid  to  the  immortal  name 
of  Washington !  " 

In  1830,  speaking  of  the  fate  of  the  Reformer,  Lord 
Brougham  said : 

"  I  have  heard  it  said  that,  when  one  lifts  up  his  voice 
against  things  that  are,  and  wishes  for  a  change,  he  is  rais- 
ing a  clamour  against  existing  institutions,  a  clamour  against 
our  venerable  establishments,  a  clamour  against  the  law  of 
the  land  ;  but  this  is  no  clamour  against  the  one  or  the  other, 
—it  is  a  clamour  against  the  abuse  of  them  all.  It  is  a 
clamour  raised  against  the  grievances  that  are  felt.  Mr. 
Burke,  who  was  no  friend  to  popular  excitement, — who  was 
no  ready  tool  of  agitation,  no  hot-headed  enemy  of  existing 
establishments,  no  under-valuer  of  the  wisdom  of  our  ances- 
tors, no  scoffer  against  institutions  as  they  are, — has  said, 
and  it  deserves  to  be  fixed,  in  letters  of  gold,  over  the  hall 


1 86  HISTOR  Y  OF  OR  A  TOR  Y. 


of  every  assembly  which  calls  itself  a  legislative  body : 
'  WHERE  THERE  is  ABUSE,  THERE  OUGHT  TO  BE  CLAMOUR  ; 

BECAUSE  IT  IS  BETTER  TO  HAVE  OUR  SLUMBER  BROKEN  BY 
THE  FIRE-BELL,  THAN  TO  PERISH,  AMIDST  THE  FLAMES,  IN 

OUR  BED.'  I  have  been  told,  by  some  who  have  little  ob- 
jection to  the  clamour,  that  I  am  a  timid  and  a  mock  re- 
former ;  and  by  others,  if  I  go  on  firmly  and  steadily,  and 
do  not  allow  myself  to  be  driven  aside  by  either  one  outcry 
or  another,  and  care  for  neither,  that  it  is  a  rash  and  danger- 
ous innovation  which  I  propound  ;  and  that  I  am  taking,  for 
the  subject  of  my  reckless  experiments,  things  which  are  the 
objects  of  all  men's  veneration.  I  disregard  the  one  as  much 
as  I  disregard  the  other  of  these  charges. 

*  False  honour  charms,  and  lying  slander  scares, 
Whom,  but  the  false  and  faulty  ? ' 

"  It  has  been  the  lot  of  all  men,  in  all  ages,  who  have  aspired 
at  the  honour  of  guiding,  instructing,  or  mending  mankind,  to 
have  their  paths  beset  by  every  persecution  from  adversaries, 
by  every  misconstruction  from  friends  ;  no  quarter  from  the 
one, — no  charitable  construction  from  the  other !  To  be 
misconstrued,  misrepresented,  borne  down,  till  it  was  in 
vain  to  bear  down  any  longer,  has  been  their  fate.  But 
truth  will  survive,  and  calumny  has  its  day.  I  say  that,  if 
this  be  the  fate  of  the  reformer, — if  he  be  the  object  of  mis- 
representation,— may  not  an  inference  be  drawn  favourable 
to  myself  ?  Taunted  by  the  enemies  of  reform  as  being  too 
rash,  by  the  over-zealous  friends  of  reform  as  being  too  slow 
or  too  cold,  there  is  every  reason  for  presuming  that  I  have 
chosen  the  right  course.  A  reformer  must  proceed  steadily 
in  his  career ;  not  misled,  on  the  one  hand,  by  panegyric, 
nor  discouraged  by  slander,  on  the  other.  He  wants  no 
praise.  I  would  rather  say,  '  Woe  to  him  when  all  men 
speak  well  of  him  ! '  I  shall  go  on  in  the  course  which  I 
have  laid  down  for  myself ;  pursuing  the  footsteps  of  those 
who  have  gone  before  us,  who  have  left  us  their  instructions 
and  success, — their  instructions  to  guide  our  walk,  and  their 
success  to  cheer  our  spirits." 


OK  A  TORY  IN  ENGLAND.  l8/ 


Lord  Brougham  made  the  following  comparison  between 
the  conqueror  and  the  schoolmaster  : 

"  But  there  is  nothing  which  the  adversaries  of  improve- 
ment are  more  wont  to  make  themselves  merry  with  than 
what  is  termed  the  *  march  of  intellect ' ;  and  here  I  will 
confess,  that  I  think,  as  far  as  the  phrase  goes,  they  are  in 
the  right.  It  is  a  very  absurd,  because  a  very  incorrect  ex- 
pression. It  is  little  calculated  to  describe  the  operation  in 
question.  It  does  not  picture  an  image  at  all  resembling 
the  proceedings  of  the  true  friends  of  mankind.  It  much 
more  resembles  the  progress  of  the  enemy  to  all  improve- 
ment. The  conqueror  moves  in  a  march.  He  stalks  on- 
ward with  the  '  pride,  pomp,  and  circumstance  of  war  '- 
banners  flying — shouts  rending  the  air — guns  thundering 
—and  martial  music  pealing,  to  drown  the  shrieks  of  the 
wounded  and  the  lamentations  for  the  slain. 

"  Not  thus  the  schoolmaster,  in  his  peaceful  vocation.  He 
meditates  and  prepares  in  secret  the  plans  which  are  to  bless 
mankind ;  he  slowly  gathers  round  him  those  who  are  to 
further  their  execution  ;  he  quietly,  though  firmly,  advances 
in  his  humble  path,  labouring  steadily,  but  calmly,  till  he  has 
opened  to  the  light  all  the  recesses  of  ignorance,  and  torn 
up  by  the  roots  the  weeds  of  vice.  His  is  a  progress  not  to 
be  compared  with  anything  like  a  march ;  but  it  leads  to  a 
far  more  brilliant  triumph,  and  to  laurels  more  imperishable 
than  the  destroyer  of  his  species,  the  scourge  of  the  world, 
ever  won. 

"  Such  men — men  deserving  the  glorious  title  of  Teachers 
of  Mankind — I  have  found,  labouring  conscientiously,  though, 
perhaps,  obscurely,  in  their  blessed  vocation,  wherever  I  have 
gone.  I  have  found  them,  and  shared  their  fellowship, 
among  the  daring,  the  ambitious,  the  ardent,  the  indomi- 
tably active  French ;  I  have  found  them  among  the  perse- 
vering, resolute,  industrious  Swiss ;  I  have  found  them  among 
the  laborious,  the  warm-hearted,  the  enthusiastic  Germans  ; 
I  have  found  them  among  the  high-minded,  but  enslaved 
Italians  ;  and  in  our  own  country,  God  be  thanked !  their 
numbers  everywhere  abound,  and  are  every  day  increasing. 


1 88  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


"  Their  calling  is  high  and  holy  ;  their  fame  is  the  property 
of  nations ;  their  renown  will  fill  the  earth  in  after  ages,  in 
proportion  as  it  sounds  not  far  off  in  their  own  times.  Each 
one  of  those  great  teachers  of  the  world,  possessing  his  soul 
in  peace,  performs  his  appointed  course  ;  awaits  in  patience 
the  fulfilment  of  the  promises  ;  and,  resting  from  his  labours, 
bequeaths  his  memory  to  the  generation  whom  his  works 
have  blessed,  and  sleeps  under  the  humble  but  not  inglorious 
epitaph,  commemorating  'one  in  whom  mankind  lost  a 
friend,  and  no  man  got  rid  of  an  enemy.'  ' 

Lord  Brougham  died  at  Cannes,  upon  the  /th  day  of  May, 
1868,  in  the  ninetieth  year  of  his  age. 

Nothwithstanding  his  faults,  and  they  were  many,  Lord 
Brougham  had,  at  bottom,  genuine  warmth  of  heart  and 
good  nature.  He  was  an  affectionate  son,  and  a  devoted 
parent  and  brother,  and  keenly  sensible  to  the  sufferings 
and  sympathies  of  the  poor. 

Erskine. — Lord  Erskine  was,  undoubtedly,  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  advocates  of  any  age  or  country,  and 
the  history  of  his  life  cannot  be  too  carefully  studied  by 
the  student  of  forensic  oratory.  His  successes  at  the  bar 
were  not  accidental.  They  were  due  to  his  own  indefatigable 
energy  and  industry.  His  competitors  for  fame  had  been, 
almost  without  a  notable  exception,  educated  at  the  public 
schools  and  English  universities,  and  while  they  were  being 
instructed  by  the  ablest  teachers  which  could  be  found,  he 
was  laying  in  the  stores  of  knowledge  which  were,  after- 
wards, so  useful  to  him,  on  board  a  man-of-war,  or  in  the 
barracks  of  a  marching  regiment.  To  an  ordinary  aspirant 
for  intellectual  distinction,  the  difficulties  which  confronted 
Erskine  would  have  proved  insurmountable,  but  instead  of 
being  discouraged  by  them,  Erskine  was  only  stimulated  to 
greater  exertion. 

In  a  small  and  poorly  furnished  room  in  an  upper  "  flat  " 
of  a  very  high  house  in  Edinburgh,  Thomas  Erskine  was 
born,  on  the  loth  day  of  January,  1750.  He  was  the 
youngest  son  of  Henry  David,  tenth  Earl  of  Buchan,  and 
counted  in  his  line  many  distinguished  ancestors.  One  of 


OK  A  TORY  IN  ENGLAND.  189 


these  distinguished  ancestors,  whose  name  it  is  not  neces- 
sary to  mention,  having  wasted  the  ample  patrimony  which 
once  belonged  to  the  family,  Henry  David  was  left  with  a 
very  large  family  and  a  very  small  income,  amounting  to 
about  £200  a  year.  His  wife  was  a  most  extraordinary 
woman,  equally  eminent  for  piety,  and  good  common-sense. 
She  was  the  daughter  of  Sir  James  Stewart  of  Goodtrees  in 
the  county  of  Mid-Lothian.  Erskine's  parents  were  com- 
pelled to  abandon  an  old  castle  standing  on  their  small 
estate,  for  the  wretched  habitation  in  Edinburgh  which  has 
been  mentioned,  where  their  poverty  would  not  be  so  con- 
spicuous and  their  children  better  educated.  Erskine's 
mother  taught  her  children  to  read,  and  instilled  at  an  early 
age,  into  their  minds,  the  doctrines  of  the  Presbyterian  faith. 

That  buoyancy  of  spirit  and  sprightliness  of  fancy  which 
he  was  noted  for  in  after  life  was  discovered  in  his  youth. 
He  attended  for  some  years  the  High  School  of  Edinburgh, 
eating,  with  considerable  fortitude,  his  oatmeal  porridge  for 
breakfast,  and  soup  maigre,  called  "  kail,"  for  dinner.  Not- 
withstanding the  economy  practised,  Edinburgh  was  found 
too  expensive  for  the  slender  finances  of  the  family,  and  in 
1762  they  removed  to  St.  Andrew's  in  Fife,  where  house 
rent  was  lower,  and  educational  advantages  not  inferior. 

At  this  time  Erskine  is  said  to  have  been  "  of  quick  parts 
and  retentive  memory,  rather  idly  inclined,  but  capable  of 
great  application, — full  of  fun  and  frolic, — and  ever  the 
favourite  of  his  master  and  his  playmates." 

One  of  his  letters,  written  at  this  period  to  his  eldest 
brother,  Lord  Cardross,  who  was  then  at  Edinburgh,  is  of 
interest : 

"  MY  DEAR  BROTHER  : 

"  I  received  your  letter,  and  it  gave  me  great  joy  to  hear 
that  you  were  in  health,  which  I  hope  will  always  continue. 
I  am  in  my  second  month  at  the  dancing-school.  I  have 
learned  shantrews  and  the  single  hornpipe,  and  am  just  now 
learning  the  double-hornpipe.  There  is  a  pretty  large  Norway 
ship  in  the  harbour;  the  captain  took  Harry  and  me  into  the 


HISTORY   OF  ORATORY. 

cabin,  and  entertained  us  with  French  claret,  Danish  biscuit, 
and  smoked  salmon  ;  and  the  captain  was  up  in  the  town 
seeing  Papa  to-day.  He  is  to  sail  on  Friday,  because  the 
stream  is  great.  Yesterday  I  saw  Captain  Sutherland  exer- 
cise his  party  of  Highlanders,  which  I  liked  very  well  to  see. 
In  the  time  of  the  vacation  Harry  and  me  writes  themes,  reads 
Livy  and  French,  with  Mr.  Douglas,  between  ten  and  eleven. 
Papa  made  me  a  present  of  a  ring-dial,  which  I  am  very  fond 
of,  for  it  tells  me  what  o'clock  it  is  very  exactly.  You  bid 
me,  in  your  last  letter,  write  to  you  when  I  had  nothing  bet- 
ter to  do  :  but,  I  assure  you,  I  think  I  cannot  employ  myself 
better  than  to  write  to  you,  which  I  shall  take  care  to  do  very 
often.  Adieu,  my  dear  brother,  and  believe  me,  with  great 
affection. 

"  Yours,  T.    E." 

This  note  is  said  to  have  been  very  neatly  written  with  lines. 
His  grammatical  errors  in  speaking  of  himself  and  brother 
Harry  cannot  fairly  be  complained  of,  for  in  fraternal  affec- 
tion they  were  one. 

At  the  grammar  school  of  St.  Andrew's,  under  Mr.  Hack- 
ett,  whose  scholarly  attainments  were  not  equal  to  his  zeal  as 
a  teacher,  Erskine  attained  only  a  moderate  proficiency  in 
Latin,  and  learned  little  of  Greek  beyond  the  alphabet. 
But  happily  for  him  he  was  taught  to  compose  in  English,  as 
if  it  had  been  a  foreign  tongue,  and  being  extremely  fond  of 
books,  he  read  many  volumes  of  English  poems,  plays,  voy- 
ages, and  travels.  It  is  said  that  he  was  never  matriculated 
in  the  university  of  St.  Andrew's,  but  in  the  session  of  1762-3 
he  attended  the  mathematical  and  natural  philosophy  classes, 
taught  by  professors  of  considerable  eminence,  and  from 
them  he  imbibed  the  small  portion  of  science  of  which  he 
could  ever  boast. 

Early  in  life  he  began  to  consider,  with  a  seriousness  which 
could  not  have  been  expected  from  one  of  his  years  and  gay 
disposition,  how  he  was  to  make  his  way  in  the  world.  His 
parents  were  so  poor  that  they  could  do  nothing  better  than 
send  him  to  sea  as  a  midshipman,  but  being  desirous  of 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  ENGLA  ND.  1 9 1 


improving  his  mind,  and  of  being  bred  to  one  of  the  learned 
professions,  and  having  a  particular  aversion  to  the  sea  ser- 
vice, he  asked  that  a  commission  in  the  army  might  be  pro- 
cured for  him.  After  a  correspondence  between  his  father 
and  some  of  his  friends,  this  point  seems  to  have  been  con- 
ceded to  him.  Believing  this,  he  wrote  the  following  letter 
to  Lady  Stewart,  his  aunt,  which  does  him  great  credit  for 
the  noble  aspirations  which  it  discloses  : 

"  Nov.  4,  1763. 
"  MY  DEAR  AUNT  : 

"  I  received  your  letter  about  a  week  ago  with  great  pleas- 
ure, and  thank  you  for  the  good  advice  contained  in  it,  which 
I  hope  by  God's  assistance  I  shall  be  able  to  follow. 

"  I  am  extremely  glad  that  you  approve  of  my  not  going 
to  sea.  I  shall  tell  my  reasons  for  it. 

"  In  the  first  place,  Papa  got  a  letter  from  Commodore 
Dennis,  laying  before  him  the  disadvantages  at  present  of 
the  sea  service,  on  account  of  the  many  half-pay  officers  on 
the  list,  which  all  behoved  to  be  promoted  before  me  ;  he 
also  acquainted  Papa  that  he  was  sorry  that  if  I  drd  go  he 
could  be  of  no  service  to  me,  as  he  had  at  present  no  com- 
mand, and  had  no  prospects  of  getting  any  :  he  at  the  same 
time  did  not  forget  the  advantages  of  it ;  but  when  I  weighed 
the  two  in  scales,  the  disadvantages  prevailed,  and  still  more 
when  added  to  my  own  objections,  which  are  as  follows ; — 
In  the  first  place,  I  could  have  no  opportunity  of  improving 
my  learning,  whereas  in  the  army  the  regiment  is  often  quar- 
tered in  places  where  I  might  have  all  advantages.  I  assure 
you  I  could  by  no  means  put  up  without  improving  myself 
in  my  studies,  for  I  can  be  as  happy  as  the  day  is  long  with 
them,  and  would  ten  times  rather  be  at  St.  Andrew's,  at- 
tending the  classes  there,  and  even  those  which  I  was  at 
last  year,  viz.  natural  philosophy  and  mathematics  (both  of 
which  I  am  extremely  fond  of),  than  at  the  most  beautiful 
place  in  the  world,  with  all  manner  of  diversions  and  amuse- 
ments. My  second  objection  is,  that  I  would  be  obliged  to 
keep  company  with  a  most  abandoned  set  of -people  that 


192  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


would  corrupt  my  morals  ;  whereas  in  the  army,  though  they 
be  bad  enough,  yet  I  should  have  the  advantage  of  choosing 
my  company  when  I  pleased,  without  being  constrained  to 
any  particular  set; — and  thirdly,  I  think  my  constitution 
would  not  agree  with  it,  as  I  am  very  subject  to  rheumatic 
pains.  [Then  follow  some  little  family  matters  and  mes- 
sages.] 

"  I  shall  now  conclude  with  assuring  you  that  I  am,  my 
dear  aunt, 

"  Your  most  affectionate  nephew, 

THOMAS  ERSKINE." 

The  arrangements,  however,  were  not  consummated,  be- 
cause a  commission  could  not  be  obtained  without  purchase, 
and  the  original  intention  of  sending  him  to  sea  was  resumed. 
In  the  following  year  he  was  put  under  Sir  David  Lindsay, 
a  nephew  of  Lord  Mansfield,  and  an  experienced  sea  captain 
in  command  of  a  man-of-war.  Young  Erskine  being  sup- 
plied with  a  blue  jacket,  cocked  hat,  and  sword,  embarked  at 
Leith,  after  taking  an  affecting  leave  of  his  family  whom  he 
tenderly  loved.  He  never  saw  his  father  again  alive,  but 
his  talented  mother  survived  to  encourage  and  animate  him 
for  many  years,  and  to  witness  the  commencement  of  his 
brilliant  career. 

Erskine  left  his  native  land  discouraged  and  dispirited, 
but  when  he  next  revisited  it,  he  had  achieved  the  reputation 
of  the  greatest  forensic  orator  that  England  ever  produced, 
and  he  was  besides  an  ex-Chancellor,  a  Peer,  and  a  Knight 
of  the  Thistle. 

Erskine  remained  in  the  Tartar,' the  name  of  the  ship  in 
which  he  sailed,  four  years,  cruising  about  in  the  West  In- 
dies and  on  the  coast  of  America.  One  of  his  biographers 
says:  "The  life  of  a  midshipman  has  been  much  improved 
of  late  years  by  superior  comforts,  and  by  anxious  attention 
to  professional  and  general  education  while  he  is  afloat ;  but 
in  Erskine's  time  the  interior  of  a  man-of-war  presented 
nearly  the  same  spectacle  which  we  find  described  in  so  lively 
a  manner  in  Roderic  Random,— and  the  young  officers  were 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  193 


taught  little  else  than  to  smoke  tobacco,  to  drink  flip,  and  to 
eat  salmagundy.  Erskine,  however, — never  neglecting  his 
professional  duties, — contrived  often  to  escape  from  the  dark 
and  noisy  abode  of  the  midshipmen  to  a  quiet  corner  of  the 
vessel,  where  he  amused  and  improved  himself  in  reading 
books  which  be  had  brought  on  board  with  him — picking  up 
some  new  volume  at  every  port  he  visited.  He  was  soon 
reconciled  to  his  situation — and  his  elastic  spirits  and  gay 
temperament  made  him  not  only  take  a  deep  interest  in  the 
new  scenes  which  presented  themselves  to  him,  but  to  be 
pleased  with  all  he  saw.  ...  He  was  so  warm  an  ad- 
mirer of  the  open,  straightforward,  light-hearted,  brave 
though  thoughtless  and  indiscreet  character  of  English  sea- 
men, that  he  would  not  hear  of  any  plan  for  rendering  them 
more  sober  and  orderly  on  shore,  saying,  '  You  may  scour 
an  old  coin  to  make  it  legible  ;  but  if  you  go  on  scouring,  it 
will  be  no  coin  at  all.'  " 

Erskine  did  not  remain  long  enough  in  the  service  to  ob- 
tain the  commission  of  lieutenant,  thought  he  acted  for 
some  time  in  that  capacity,  through  the  friendship  of  his 
commander.  In  this  capacity  Erskine  made  the  voyage 
home  to  England,  believing  that  his  promotion  would  be 
confirmed,  but  on  arriving  at  Portsmouth  the  ship  was  paid 
off,  and  he  was  told  at  the  Admiralty  that,  on  account  of  the 
great  number  of  midshipmen  who  had  served  longer  than 
himself,  he  could  not  yet  have  a  lieutenant's  commission, 
and  there  was  no  telling  when  he  might  be  advanced. 

At  eighteen  Erskine  entered  the  army,  as  an  ensign  in  the 
Royals,  or  1st  regiment  of  foot.  On  the  1st  day  of  Septem- 
ber, 1768,  he  obtained  his  commission.  Most  of  the  officers 
of  the  corps  were  his  countrymen.  In  this  regiment  he  re- 
mained seven  years,  and  was  not  raised  to  a  lieutenancy  un- 
til the  2 1st  of  April  1773.  On  the  2Qth  day  of  March,  1770, 
he  was  married  to  a  lady  of  good  family,  but  as  poor  as  him- 
self. His  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Daniel  Moore,  Esq.,  M.P. 
for  Marlow.  His  marriage  was  a  most  happy  one.  She  be- 
came the  fond  parent  of  numerous  children,  and  lived  till 
within  a  few  months  of  the  time  when  Erskine  was  made 


194  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


Lord  Chancellor,  having  richly  deserved  the  tribute  which 
he  had  inscribed  on  her  monument,  that  she  was  the  most 
faithful  and  the  most  affectionate  of  women. 

While  at  Minorca  where  his  regiment  had  been  ordered, 
Erskine  read  many  of  the  old  English  authors,  and  it  is 
said  that  "  he  was  more  familiar  with  Shakespeare  than  al- 
most any  man  of  his  age,  and  Milton  he  had  nearly  by 
heart.  The  noble  speeches  in  Paradise  Lost  may  be  deemed 
as  good  a  substitute  as  could  have  been  discovered  by  the 
future  orator  for  the  immortal  originals  in  the  Greek  models. 
The  works  of  Dryden  and  Pope  were  next  read,  and  com- 
mitted to  memory,  with  the  avidity  of  a  refined  and  well 
formed  taste." 

Even  the  hours  of  garrison  life,  when  not  devoted  to  his 
favorite  authors,  were  not  wholly  wasted,  for  Erskine  ac- 
quired among  his  brother  officers  a  knowledge  of  the  world, 
a  frank  and  gallant  bearing,  and  that  self-respect  for  which 
he  was  afterwards  noted,  and  which  greatly  contributed  to 
his  success  at  the  bar.  When  he  returned  to  England  with 
his  regiment  in  1772,  he  mixed  much  with  the  men  of  letters 
of  the  metropolis,  and  even  tried  authorship  himself.  Said 
Jeremy  Bentham :  "  I  saw  a  letter  written  by  Erskine  when 
he  was  an  officer  in  the  army— it  complained  of  insufficient 
pay.  That  letter  was  characterized  by  something  different 
from  common  writing,  though  it  had  many  defects  of  which 
he  afterwards  got  rid.  When  the  Fragment  was  published 
Erskine  sought  me  out.  I  met  him  sometimes  [said  the 
gossiping  octogenarian]  at  Dr.  Burton's.  He  was  so  shab- 
bily dressed  as  to  be  quite  remarkable.  He  was  astonished 
when  I  told  him  I  did  not  mean  to  practice.  I  remember 
his  calling  on  me,  and  not  finding  me  at  home,  he  wrote  his 
name  with  chalk  on  my  door." 

Erskine  also  attended  the  assemblies  of  Mrs.  Montagu, 
frequented  by  Dr.  Johnson,  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  the  Bishop 
of  St.  Asaph,  Dr.  Burney  and  many  other  celebrated  men 
of  that  day. 

Boswell  in  his  Life  of  Johnson,  says  : 

"  On   Monday,  April  6,  I  dined  with  him  at  Sir  Alexan- 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  195 


der  Macdonald's  where  was  a  young  officer  in  the  Regimen- 
tals of  the  Scots  Royals,  who  talked  with  vivacity,  fluency, 
and  precision,  so  uncommon  that  he  attracted  particular  at- 
tention. He  proved  to  be  the  Honourable  Thomas  Erskine, 
youngest  brother  to  the  Earl  of  Buchan,  who  has  since  risen 
into  such  brilliant  reputation  at  the  Bar  in  Westminster 
Hall."  It  appears  that,  after  the  example  of  David  and 
Goliath,  the  ensign  ventured  to  combat  the  literary  giant. 
A  controversy  arising  about  the  respective  merits  of  the  au- 
thors of  Tom  Jones  and  Clarissa,  and  Johnson  pronouncing 
Fielding  to  be  "  a  blockhead  "  and  "  a  barren  rascal,"  and 
saying  "  there  is  more  knowledge  of  the  heart  in  one  letter 
of  Richardson's  than  in  all  Tom  Jones," — Erskine  objected  : 
"  Surely,  sir,  Richardson  is  very  tedious."  He  received  only 
this  answer,  which,  I  think,  is  not  very  satisfactory  :  "  Why, 
sir,  if  you  were  to  read  Richardson  for  the  story,  your  im- 
patience would  be  so  much  fretted  that  you  would  hang 
yourself !  But  you  must  read  him  for  the  sentiment,  and 
consider  the  story  as  only  giving  occasion  to  the  sentiment." 

Various  conjectures  have  been  made  by  Erskine's  biogra- 
phers as  to  the  motives  which  led  him  to  adopt  the  legal 
profession.  While  little  is  certainly  known  it  is  highly  prob- 
able that  he  was  encouraged  to  study  law  by  his  mother,  a 
woman  of  uncommon  acquirements  and  great  penetration, 
and  by  Lord  Mansfield,  but  that  the  idea  of  becoming  a 
lawyer  first  suggested  itself  to  his  own  mind  there  can  hardly 
be  room  for  doubt  after  reading  the  following  extract  from 
his  biography  by  Lord  Campbell : 

"  Having  been  some  time  the  senior  ensign  in  his  regi- 
ment, on  the  2 1st  of  April,  1773,  he  was  raised  to  be  a 
lieutenant.  The  pleasure  of  promotion  speedily  passed 
away,  and  he  became  more  and  more  dissatisfied  with  his 
situation  and  his  prospects.  He  was  again  moving  about 
with  his  regiment  from  one  country  town  to  another.  This 
mode  of  life  had  lost  the  charm  of  novelty  which  once  made 
it  endurable,  and  was  now  become  doubly  irksome  from  his 
having  to  keep  a  wife  and  family  in  a  barrack-room,  or  in 
lodgings,  the  expense  of  which  he  could  ill  afford.  He  had 


196  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 

no  money  to  purchase  higher  commissions,  and  he  might 
wait  many  years  before  he  gained  another  step  by  seniority. 
Notwithstanding  some  disputes  with  the  American  colonies, 
there  seemed  a  probability  of  long  and  profound  peace.  He 
thought  himself  fit  for  better  things  than  the  wretched 
existence  that  seemed  lengthening  before  him — to  be  spent 
in  listlessness  and  penury. 

"  It  so  happened  that  in  the  midst  of  these  lucubrations, 
the  assizes  were  held  in  the  town  in  which  he  was  quartered. 
The  lounging  lieutenant  entering  the  court  in  his  regimen- 
tals, Lord  Mansfield,  the  presiding  judge,  inquired  who  he 
was,  and,  finding  that  this  was  the  youngest  son  of  the  late 
Earl  of  Buchan,  who  had  sailed  with  his  nephew,  invited 
him  to  sit  on  the  bench  by  his  side,  explained  to  him  the 
nature  of  the  proceedings  that  were  going  forward,  and 
showed  him  the  utmost  civility.  Erskine  heard  a  cause  of 
considerable  interest  tried,  in  which  the  counsel  were  sup- 
posed  to  display  great  eloquence.  Never  undervaluing  his 
own  powers,  he  thought  within  himself,  that  he  could  have 
made  a  better  speech  than  any  of  them,  on  whichever  side 
he  had  been  retained.  Yet  these  gentlemen  were  the  leaders 
of  the  circuit,  each  making  a  larger  income  than  the  pay  of 
all  the  officers  of  the  Royals  put  together, — with  the  chance 
of  being  raised  by  their  own  abilities  to  the  Woolsack.  The 
thought  then  suddenly  struck  him  that  it  might  not  even 
now  be  too  late  for  him  to  study  the  law  and  be  called  to 
the  bar.  He  saw  the  difficulties  in  his  way,  but  there  was 
no  effort  which  he  was  not  willing  to  make,  no  privation  to 
which  he  would  not  cheerfully  submit,  that  he  might  rescue 
himself  from  his  present  forlorn  condition, — that  he  might 
have  a  chance  of  gaining  intellectual  distinction, — above  all, 
that  he  might  make  a  decent  provision  for  his  family.  Lord 
Mansfield  invited  him  to  dinner,  and  being  greatly  struck 
with  his  conversation  and  pleased  with  his  manners,  detained 
him  till  late  in  the  evening.  When  the  rest  of  the  company 
had  withdrawn,  the  Lieutenant,  who  ever  showed  great 
moral  courage,  in  consideration  of  the  connection  between 
the  Murrays  and  the  Erskines,  and  the  venerable  Earl's 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  197 


great  condescension  and  kindness,  disclosed  to  him  his  plan 
of  a  change  of  profession,  with  a  modest  statement  of  his 
reasons.  Lord  Mansfield  by  no  means  discouraged  him ; 
but  advised  him  before  he  took  a  step  so  serious  to  consult 
his  near  relations." 

He  accordingly  wrote  to  his  mother,  and  she,  justly 
appreciating  the  energy  and  perseverance  as  well  as  the 
enthusiasm  belonging  to  his  nature,  strongly  advised  him  to 
quit  the  army  for  the  law.  His  brothers  did  not  oppose, — 
although  Henry  warned  him  of  the  thorny  and  uphill  path 
on  which  he  was  entering.  His  resolution  was  now  firmly 
taken,  and  he  came  up  to  London  to  carry  it  into  effect.  It 
was  not  till  the  spring  of  the  following  year  that  financial 
difficulties  were  so  far  removed  as  to  render  it  possible  for 
him  to  make  the  experiment.  Craddock  says  :  "  At  the 
house  of  Admiral  Walsingham  I  first  met  with  Erskine  and 
Sheridan,  and  it  was  there  the  scheme  was  laid  that  the 
former  should  exchange  the  army  for  the  law  "  ;  but  he  had 
not  been  made  acquainted  with  the  previous  consultations, 
or  he  would  have  said  that  the  plan  was  there  matured,  and 
the  arrangements  made  for  his  legal  studies  and  his  call  to 
the  bar.  "  The  period  of  five  years  was  then  required  by 
all  the  inns  of  court  for  a  student  to  be  on  the  books  of  the 
society  before  he  could  be  called — with  this  proviso,  that  it 
was  reduced  to  three  years  for  those  who  had  the  degree  of 
M.  A.  from  either  of  the  universities  of  Oxford  or  Cambridge. 
It  was  resolved  that  Erskine  should  immediately  be  at  an 
inn  of  court ;  that  he  should  likewise  be  matriculated  at 
Cambridge,  and  take  a  degree  there ;  that  he  should  keep 
his  academical  and  law  terms  concurrently,  and  that  as  soon 
as  it  could  be  managed,  he  should  become  a  pupil  to  some 
eminent  pleader,  so  as  to  be  well  grounded  in  the  technicali- 
ties of  his  craft."  On  the  26th  day  of  April,  1775,  Erskine 
was  admitted  a  student  of  Lincoln's  Inn,  and  on  the  I3th  of 
January,  1 776,  he  was  matriculated  at  Cambridge,  and  entered 
on  the  books  of  Trinity  College,  as  a  Gentleman  Commoner. 
He  took  the  honorary  degree  of  A.  M.  in  June, '1778.  It  is 
said  that  while  still  a  student  at  Cambridge  he  kept  his 


198  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


terms  at  Lincoln's  Inn.  He  had  not  yet  actually  quitted 
the  army,  but  had  succeeded  in  getting  six  months'  leave  of 
absence.  During  Easter  he  created  a  sensation  in  the  din- 
ing hall  by  appearing  with  a  student's  black  gown  over  the 
scarlet  regimentals  of  the  Royals,  probably  not  having  a 
decent  suit  of  plain  clothes  to  put  on.  By  the  sale  of  his 
lieutenancy  he  obtained  a  small  supply  of  cash  on  the  iQth 
day  of  September,  1775. 

Erskine  became  a  pupil  in  the  chambers  of  Mr.  Justice 
Buller,  the  great  Nisi  Prius  judge,  who  said  his  idea  of 
heaven  was  a  place  where  he  could  hear  causes  all  day  and 
play  whist  all  night,  and  when  Buller  was  made  a  judge,  he 
entered  himself  with  another  famous  lawyer,  George  Wood, 
afterwards  made  Baron  of  the  Exchequer,  with  whom  he 
continued  for  nearly  a  year  after  his  admission  to  the  bar. 

Erskine  never  became  a  profound  lawyer,  but  he  had  a 
logical  understanding,  and  it  is  said  that  by  severe  applica- 
tion he  made  considerable  progress,  and  that  he  was  able 
thoroughly  to  understand  and  appreciate,  in  all  its  bearings, 
any  question  of  law  which  he  had  occasion  to  consider — and 
to  collect  and  arrange  the  authorities  upon  it,  and  to  argue 
it  lucidly  and  scientifically.  For  three  years  after  his  retire- 
ment from  the  army  Erskine  was  often  in  need  of  money. 
Although  practising  the  strictest  economy,  and  the  most 
rigid  self-denial,  he  often  found  it  difficult  to  provide  the 
necessaries  of  life  for  his  family.  But  like  most  men  of 
ability  and  determination,  he  had  carefully  calculated  the 
chances  of  success  and  failure,  and  had  made  up  his  mind  to 
do  his  best,  and  leave  the  consequences  to  Infinite  wisdom. 

Poverty  too  often  presents  such  a  discouraging  front  to 
struggling  genius  as  to  paralyse  every  effort,  but,  fortunately, 
Erskine  was  endowed  by  nature  with  a  sanguine  tempera- 
ment and  an  indomitable  will  which  enabled  him  to  over- 
come all  obstacles. 

It  is,  unhappily,  but  too  true,  that  men  of  genius  are  often 
doomed  to  languish  in  obscurity  at  the  bar  for  many  years 
after  their  admission  ;  but  by  a  fortunate  accident  Erskine 
was  soon  given  an  opportunity  to  demonstrate  his  capacity 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  199 


to  the  bench  and  bar  of  London.  Be  it  said  to  the  credit 
of  the  legal  profession  both  in  this  country  and  in  England, 
that  the  leaders  of  the  bar  are  rarely  guilty  of  the  unutter- 
able meanness  of  attempting  to  prevent  the  rise  of  a  talented 
lawyer,  but,  on  the  contrary,  are  only  too  glad  to  assist  him, 
in  every  possible  way,  to  tread  the  thorny  and  difficult  path 
which  he  finds  before  him. 

Captain  Baillie,  the  lieutenant-governor  of  Greenwich  Hos- 
pital, and  a  veteran  seaman  of  excellent  character,  having 
discovered  gross  abuses  in  the  administration  of  that  charity, 
presented  various  petitions  to  the  directors,  governors,  and 
at  last,  to  the  lords  of  the  admiralty,  asking  for  enquiry  and 
redress.  No  attention  being  paid  to  his  petitions  and  remon- 
strances, he  published  a  statement  of  the  case  and  distributed 
copies  amongst  the  general-governors  of  the  hospital.  In 
this  paper  he  animadverted  with  great  severity  upon  the  in- 
troduction of  landsmen  into  the  hospital,  charging  that  they 
had  been  placed  there,  at  the  instance,  and  to  serve  the  elec- 
tion purposes,  of  Lord  Sandwich,  the  First  Lord  of  the 
Admiralty.  The  circulation  of  the  pamphlet  caused  the 
suspension  of  Captain  Baillie  soon  after  its  publication,  and 
certain  officers  who  had  been  censured  applied  to  the  Court 
of  King's  Bench  for  a  criminal  information.  Erskine's  suc- 
cessful connection  with  the  case  has  been  graphically  told 
by  himself,  as  follows  : 

"  I  had  scarcely  a  shilling  in  my  pocket  when  I  got  my 
first  retainer.  It  was  sent  me  by  Captain  Baillie  of  the  navy, 
who  held  an  office  at  the  Board  of  Greenwich  Hospital,  and 
I  was  to  show  cause  at  the  Michaelmas  term  against  a  rule 
that  had  been  obtained  in  the  preceding  term,  calling  on  him 
to  show  cause  why  a  criminal  information  reflecting  on  Lord 
Sandwich's  conduct  as  governor  of  that  charity  should  not 
be  filed  against  him.  I  had  met,  during  the  long  vacation, 
this  Captain  Baillie  at  a  friend's  table,  and  after  dinner  I  ex- 
pressed myself  with  some  warmth,  probably  with  some  elo- 
quence, on  the  corruption  of  Lord  Sandwich  as  First  Lord 
of  the  Admiralty,  and  then  adverted  to  the  scandalous  prac- 
tices imputed  to  him  with  regard  to  Greenwich  Hospital. 


200  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


Baillie  nudged  the  person  who  sat  next  to  him,  and  asked 
who  I  was.  Being  told  that  I  had  just  been  called  to  the 
bar,  and  had  formerly  been  in  the  navy,  Baillie  exclaimed 
with  an  oath  :  '  Then  I  '11  have  him  for  my  counsel !  *  I 
trudged  down  to  Westminster  Hall  when  I  got  the  brief, 
and  being  the  junior  of  five,  who  would  be  heard  before  me, 
never  dreamt  that  the  court  would  hear  me  at  all.  The 
argument  came  on.  Dunning,  Bearcroft,  Wallace,  Bower, 
Hargave,  were  all  heard  at  considerable  length,  and  I  was 
to  follow.  Hargrave  was  long-winded  and  tired  the  court. 
It  was  a  bad  omen  ;  but,  as  my  good  fortune  would  have  it, 
he  was  afflicted  with  the  strangury,  and  was  obliged  to  re- 
tire once  or  twice  in  the  course  of  his  argument.  This  pro- 
tracted the  cause  so  long,  that  Lord  Mansfield,  when  he  had 
finished,  said  that  the  remaining  counsel  should  be  heard  the 
next  morning.  This  was  exactly  what  I  wished.  I  had  the 
whole  night  to  arrange  in  my  chambers  what  I  had  to  say  in 
court  the  next  morning,  and  I  took  the  court  with  their  fac- 
ulties awake  and  freshened,  succeeded  quite  to  my  own  sat- 
isfaction (sometimes  the  surest  proof  that  you  have  satisfied 
others),  and,  as  I  marched  along  the  Hall  after  the  rising  of 
the  judges,  the  attorneys  flocked  around  me  with  their  re- 
tainers. I  have  since  flourished,  but  I  have  always  blessed 
God  for  the  providential  strangury  of  poor  Hargrave." 

In  his  defence  of  Baillie,  Erskine  displayed  great  courage 
in  attacking  those  who  came  forward  as  prosecutors.  He 
paid  his  respects  to  one  of  them  as  follows  :  "  In  this  enu- 
meration of  delinquents,  the  Reverend  Mr. looks  round, 

as  if  he  thought  I  had  forgotten  him.  He  is  mistaken ;  I 
well  remember  him  :  but  his  infamy  is  worn  threadbare.  Mr. 
Murphy  has  already  treated  him  with  that  ridicule  which  his 
folly,  and  Mr.  Peckham  with  that  invective  which  his  wick- 
edness, deserve.  I  shall  therefore  forbear  to  taint  the  ear 
of  the  court  further  with  his  name, — a  name  which  would 
bring  dishonour  upon  his  country  and  its  religion,  if  human 
nature  were  not  happily  compelled  to  bear  the  greater  part 
of  the  disgrace,  and  to  share  it  amongst  mankind." 

Erskine's  attack  upon  the  prosecutors  of.  Baillie  was  occa- 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  2OI 


sionally  varied  by  pathetic  references  to  the  saddest  features 
of  the  case :  "  This  simple  and  honest  tribute  was  the  signal 
for  all  that  followed.  The  leader  of  these  unfortunate  peo- 
ple was  turned  out  of  office  ;  and  the  affidavit  of  Charles 
Smith  is  filed  in  court,  which,  I  thank  my  God,  I  have  not 
been  able  to  read  without  tears  ;  how,  indeed,  could  any 
man,  when  he  swears  that  for  this  cause  alone  his  place  was 
taken  from  him  :  that  he  received  his  dismission  when  lan- 
guishing with  sickness  in  the  infirmary,  the  consequence  of 
which  was,  that  his  unfortunate  wife  and  several  of  his  help- 
less innocent  children  died  in  want  and  misery,  the  woman 
actually  expiring  at  the  gates  of  the  hospital.  That  such 
wretches  should  escape  chains  and  a  dungeon  is  a  reproach 
to  humanity  and  to  all  order  and  government ;  but  that 
they  should  become  prosecutors  is  a  degree  of  effrontery  that 
would  not  be  believed  by  any  man  who  did  not  accustom 
himself  to  observe  the  shameless  scenes  which  the  monstrous 
age  we  live  in  is  every  day  producing." 

Erskine  then  commenced  his  famous  attack  upon  Lord 
Sandwich,  when  Lord  Mansfield  observed  that  Lord  Sand- 
wich was  not  before  the  court.  The  dauntless  advocate  said  : 
"  I  know  that  he  is  not  before  the  court,  but  for  that  very 
reason  / 'will  bring  him  before  the  court.  He  has  placed  these 
men  in  the  front  of  the  battle,  in  hopes  to  escape  under  their 
shelter  ;  but  I  will  not  join  in  battle  with  them :  their  vices, 
though  screwed  up  to  the  highest  pitch  of  human  depravity, 
are  not  of  dignity  enough  to  vindicate  the  combat  with  me* 
I  assert  that  the  Earl  of  Sandwich  has  but  one  road  to  es- 
cape out  of  this  business  without  pollution  and  disgrace  ; 
and  that  is  by  publicly  disavowing  the  acts  of  the  prosecu- 
tors, and  restoring  Captain  Baillie  to  his  command.  If  he 
does  this  then  his  offence  will  be  no  more  than  the  too  com- 
mon one  of  having  suffered  his  own  personal  interests  to 
prevail  over  his  public  duty,  in  placing  his  voters  in  the  hos- 
pital. But  if,  on  the  contrary,  he  continues  to  protect  the 
prosecutors,  in  spite  of  the  evidence  of  their  guilt,  which  has 
excited  the  abhorrence  of  the  numerous  audience  that  crowd 
this  court  ;  if  he  keeps  this  injured  man  suspended,  or  dares 


202  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


to  turn  that  suspension  into  a  removal,  I  shall  then  not  scru- 
ple to  declare  him  an  accomplice  in  their  guilt,  a  shameless 
oppressor,  a  disgrace  to  his  rank,  and  a  traitor  to  his  trust." 

The  panegyric,  delivered  in  an  impassioned  manner,  upon 
his  client's  conduct,  was  fine.  He  said  :  "  Fine  and  imprison- 
ment !  The  man  deserves  a  palace  instead  of  a  prison,  who 
prevents  the  palace  built  by  the  bounty  of  his  country  from 
being  converted  into  a  dungeon,  and  who  sacrifices  his  own 
security  to  the  interests  of  humanity  and  virtue." 

After  his  successful  defence  of  Baillie,  Erskine  found 
himself  at  once  in  full  business,  strange  to  say,  for,  not- 
withstanding the  brilliancy  of  his  first  forensic  effort,  the 
attorneys,  who  are  proverbially  cold  and  cautious,  and  dis- 
trustful of  displays  of  eloquence,  flocked  around  him  with 
briefs  and  fees,  large  and  small.  His  sudden  success  has 
always  been  justly  regarded  as  phenomenal  by  the  wisest 
members  of  the  legal  profession  both  in  England  and  in  this 
country,  and  the  younger  members  of  the  legal  profession 
are  constantly  warned,  by  their  judicious  friends,  that  no 
matter  how  great  their  attainments  they  cannot  hope  to 
succeed  as  Erskine  did.  Erskine  himself  could  not  perform 
such  an  oratorical  feat  at  this  day,  because  of  the  change 
which  the  style  of  oratory  has  undergone,  because  our 
courts  are  more  prosaic,  and  more  business-like  in  their 
methods  than  they  were  in  his  time. 

In  the  year  17/9,  Erskine  was  employed,  at  the  instance 
of  Dunning,  himself  one  of  the  brightest  ornaments  of  the 
English  bar,  to  assist  in  the  defence  of  Admiral  Keppel. 
The  charges  brought  against  Keppel  were  of  incapacity  and 
misconduct  in  the  battle  of  Ushant,  with  the  French  fleet 
under  the  command  of  Count  d'Orvilliers.  Erskine  was  not 
permitted  to  address  the  court-martial  in  defence  of  Keppel, 
but  he  wrote  the  speech  which  the  Admiral  read  himself. 
The  whole  speech  is  worthy  of  a  careful  perusal,  on  account 
of  the  tact  displayed  in  its  composition.  Erskine  always 
had  a  happy  knack  of  placing  the  accusers  of  his  clients  on 
the  defensive,  and  in  this  case  he  made  the  Admiral  say  : 
"  I  could  almost  wish,  in  pity  to  my  accuser,  that  appear- 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN   ENGLAND.  2O3 


ances  were  not  so  strong  against  him.  The  trial  has  left 
my  accuser  without  excuse,  and  he  now  cuts  that  sort  of 
figure  which  I  trust  in  God  all  accusers  of  innocence  will 
ever  exhibit !  As  to  this  Court,  I  entreat  you,  gentlemen, 
who  compose  it,  to  recollect  that  you  sit  here  as  a  Court  of 
honour,  as  well  as  a  Court  of  justice  ;  and  I  now  stand  before 
you  not  merely  to  save  my  life,  but  for  a  purpose  of  infi- 
nitely greater  moment — to  clear  my  fame.  My  conscience 
is  perfectly  clear — I  have  no  secret  machination,  no  dark 
contrivance,  to  answer  for.  My  heart  does  not  reproach 
me.  As  to  my  enemies,  I  would  not  wish  the  greatest 
enemy  I  have  in  the  world  to  be  afflicted  with  so  heavy  a 
punishment  as  my  accuser's  conscience." 

When  Keppel's  speech  was  finished  the  Hall  resounded 
with  shouts  of  acclamation,  and  he  was  fully  and  honorably 
acquitted  by  an  unanimous  verdict. 

Keppel  gratefully  presented  to  Erskine  one  thousand 
pounds.  Lord  Campbell  relates  a  curious  incident,  in 
Erskine's  career,  which,  if  true,  is  illustrative  of  the  old 
saying  that,  "  Coming  events  cast  their  shadows  before." 
He  says :  "  This  spring,  he  (Erskine)  joined  the  Home  Cir- 
cuit, where  his  fame  had  preceded  him,  and  he  was  immedi- 
ately in  full  employment.  Riding  over  a  blasted  heath 
between  Lewes  and  Guildford  with  his  friend  William  Adam, 
afterwards  Lord  Chief  Commissioner  of  the  Jury  Court  in 
Scotland,  (whether  from  some  supernatural  communica- 
tion, or  the  workings  of  his  own  fancy,  I  know  not,)  he 
exclaimed  after  a  long  silence  :  '  Willie,  the  time  will  come 
when  I  will  be  invested  with  the  robes  of  Lord  Chancellor, 
and  the  Star  of  the  Thistle  shall  blaze  on  my  bosom  ! ' ' 

Truly,  there  are  more  things  in  heaven  and  earth  than 
are  dreamed  of  in  our  philosophies ! 

Of  Erskine's  defence  of  Lord  George  Gordon  for  high 
treason,  Lord  Campbell  says  :  "  Regularly  trained  to  the 
profession  of  the  law — having  practised  thirty  years  at  the 
bar — having  been  Attorney-General  above  seven  years — 
having  been  present  at  many  trials  for  high  treason,  and 
having  conducted  several  myself, — I  again  peruse,  with 


204  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


increased  astonishment  and  delight,  the  speech  delivered 
on  this  occasion  by  him  who  had  recently  thrown  aside 
the  scarlet  uniform  of  a  subaltern  in  the  army — which  he 
had  substituted  for  the  blue  jacket  of  a  midshipman,  thrust 
upon  him  while  he  was  a  school-boy.  Here  I  find  not  only 
wonderful  acuteness,  powerful  reasoning,  enthusiastic  zeal, 
and  burning  eloquence,  but  the  most  masterly  view  ever 
given  of  the  English  law  of  high  treason, — the  foundation 
of  all  our  liberties." 

The  reader  will  remember  that  Lord  George  Gordon  was 
"  President  of  the  Protestant  Association,"  and  that  at 
the  head  of  forty  thousand  persons  he  had  proceeded  to 
the  House  of  Commons  to  present  a  petition  against  the 
repeal  of  certain  penal  laws  against  the  Catholics.  While 
the  petitioners  were  assembled,  certain  riots  took  place 
which  Lord  George  Gordon  was  accused,  erroneously,  as 
the  jury  found,  of  having  incited. 

Erskine's  speech  in  this  case — in  the  humble  opinion  of 
the  writer — was  one  of  the  best  that  he  ever  delivered,  and 
the  student  of  forensic  eloquence  cannot  read  it  too  often. 

It  is  difficult  to  give  a  just  notion  of  this  speech  by 
quotations  from  it.  After  an  eloquent  and  judicious 
exordium,  Erskine  proceeded  to  lay  down  the  law  of  high 
treason.  Then,  with  great  tact,  he  referred  to  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  house  of  the  presiding  judge,  Lord  Mansfield, 
during  these  riots — drawing  from  it  an  argument  in  favor 
of  Gordon  : 

"  Can  any  man  living  believe  that;  Lord  George  Gordon 
could  possibly  have  excited  the  mob  to  destroy  the  house  of 
that  great  and  venerable  magistrate,  who  has  presided  so  long 
in  this  great  and  high  tribunal,  that  the  oldest  of  us  do  not 
remember  him  with  any  other  impression  than  the  awful  form 
and  figure  of  justice, — a  magistrate  who  had  always  been  the 
friend  of  the  Protestant  dissenters  against  the  ill-timed  jeal- 
ousies of  the  establishment ; — his  countryman,  too,  and,  with- 
out adverting  to  the  partiality  not  unjustly  imputed  to  men 
of  that  country,  a  man  of  whom  any  country  might  be  proud  ? 
No,  gentlemen,  it  is  not  credible  that  a  man  of  noble  birth 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  2O$ 


and  liberal  education  (unless  agitated  by  the  most  implac- 
able personal  resentment,  which  is  not  imputed  to  the  pris- 
oner) could  possibly  consent  to  this  burning  of  the  house  of 
Lord  Mansfield." 

Lord  Campbell  says  again  :  "  He  then  reviewed  the  whole 
of  the  evidence,  varying  his  tone  from  mild  explanation  to 
furious  invective, — always  equally  skilful  and  impressive, 
and  ever  carrying  the  sympathies  of  his  hearers  along  with 
him  in  the  most  daring  flights  of  his  eloquence.  Now  was 
witnessed  the  single  instance  recorded  in  our  judicial  annals, 
of  an  advocate  in  a  court  of  justice  introducing  an  oath  by 
the  sacred  name  of  the  Divinity, — and  it  was  introduced  not 
only  without  any  violation  of  taste,  or  offence  to  pious  ears, 
but  with  the  thrilling  sensations  of  religious  rapture,  caught 
from  the  lips  of  the  man  who,  as  if  by  inspiration,  uttered 
the  awful  sound.  Arguing  upon  the  construction  of  certain 
words  attributed  to  Lord  George  Gordon,  he  exclaimed  : 
*  But  this  I  will  say,  that  he  must  be  a  ruffian,  and  not  a  law- 
yer, who  would  dare  to  tell  an  English  jury  that  ambiguous 
words,  hemmed  closely  between  others  not  only  innocent, 
but  meritorious,  are  to  be  adopted  to  constitute  guilt  by  re- 
jecting both  introduction  and  sequel.' ' 

Lord  Erskine's  defence  of  the  Dean  of  St.  Asaph  against 
the  charge  of  publishing  a  seditious  libel  added  greatly  to 
his  fame  as  a  forensic  orator,  and  to  his  reputation  as  a  man 
of  courage.  By  defying  the  threat  of  committal,  made  by 
Justice  Buller,  he  did  his  profession  an  excellent  service. 
For  it  must  never  be  f9rgotten  that  the  members  of  the  Bar 
have  rights  which  the  Bench  has  no  right  to  violate.  His 
manner  to  the  court  was  not  lacking  in  courtesy,  and  neither 
in  manner  nor  matter  did  he  commit  a  contempt.  The  Jus- 
tice himself  saw  that  he  had  committed  an  error,  and  did  not 
dare  carry  his  threat  of  committal  into  execution,  because  he 
knew  that,  if  he  did  so,  public  opinion,  which  then  was,  and 
is  now,  omnipotent,  would  not  have  sustained  him. 

Lack  of  space  alone  prevents  the  insertion  of  extracts  from 
Erskine's  able  speech  in  this  case.  It  seemed  for  a  while  that 
the  abominable  doctrine,  that  libel  or  no  libel  was  a  pure 


206  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


question  of  law,  would  be  forever  established,  but,  thank 
Heaven!  it  led  instead  to  the  entire  subversion  of  that  fatal 
doctrine,  and  the  establishment  of  the  liberty  of  the  press 
under  the  guardianship  of  English  juries.  The  consequences 
of  this  decision  so  alarmed  the  public  mind  that  Mr.  Fox's 
Libel  Bill  was  called  for,  which  declared  the  rights  of  jurors 
in  cases  of  libel,  and  while  in  the  opinion  of  eminent  lawyers 
that  great  constitutional  triumph  is  largely  due  to  the  exer- 
tions of  the  illustrious  Lord  Camden,  who  fought  half  a  cen- 
tury in  the  cause,  had  it  not  been  for  Erskine's  magnificent 
speech  in  defence  of  the  Dean  of  St.  Asaph,  the  Star  Chamber 
might  have  been  re-established  in  England. 

Charles  James  Fox  had  such  great  admiration  for  this 
speech  that  he  repeatedly  declared  that  he  thought  it  the 
finest  argument  in  the  English  language. 

The  writer,  however,  is  inclined  to  believe  that  Erskine's 
speech  in  Stockdale's  case  is  even  superior  to  the  speech  in 
defence  of  Gordon,  and  that  it  is  in  many  respects  the  most 
eloquent  speech  ever  delivered  at  the  English  bar. 

While  the  impeachment  of  Warren  Hastings  was  pending, 
after  the  articles  drawn  up  against  him  by  Mr.  Burke,  in 
greatly  exaggerated  language,  had  appeared  in  nearly  every 
prominent  newspaper  in  England,  together  with  the  abusive 
speeches  of  the  eloquent  managers  at  the  bar  of  the  House 
of  Lords,  Mr.  Logan,  a  minister  of  the  Church  of  Scotland, 
wrote  a  pamphlet  in  his  defence  which  contained  many  severe 
accusations  against  the  prosecution.  Mr.  Logan  said,  among 
other  things,  that  the  charges  against  Mr.  Hastings,  "  origi- 
nated from  misrepresentation  and  falsehood  " ;  the  House 
of  Commons,  for  making  one  of  these  charges,  was  compared 
to  "  a  tribunal  of  inquisition  rather  than  a  Court  of  Parlia- 
ment." These  and  many  other  charges  were  made,  one  of 
the  severest  of  which  was,  that  the  impeachment  was  "  carried 
on  from  motives  of  personal  animosity,  not  from  regard  to 
public  justice."  But  Mr.  Logan  entered  into  the  merits  of 
the  case,  and  the  arguments  he  used  were  very  strong,  and 
he  seemed  sincerely  desirous  of  establishing  the  innocence 
of  Mr.  Hastings. 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  2O/ 


Mr.  Stockdalc,  a  bookseller  of  good  character,  in  Piccadilly, 
published  this  pamphlet  in  the  way  of  his  trade.  At  the 
instance  of  some  of  the  managers  of  the  impeachment,  a 
criminal  information  for  libel  was  filed  by  the  Attorney-Gen- 
eral against  Mr.  Stockdale,  and  the  case  came  on  to  be  tried 
before  Lord  Kenyon  and  a  special  jury  in  the  Court  of  King's 
Bench,  at  Westminster.  No  lawyer  should  try  a  case  of 
libel  without  first  reading,  over  and  over  again,  Erskine's 
speech  in  this  case.  The  principles  which  the  eloquent  ad- 
vocate laid  down  were  clearly  and  forcibly  stated,  illustrated, 
and  established,  and  a  well  connected  chain  of  reasoning  will 
be  found  to  run  through  it. 

In  order  t9  win  the  compassion  of  the  jury  for  Mr.  Has- 
tings, Erskine  gives  the  following  picturesque  description  of 
Westminster  Hall: 

"  There  the  most  august  and  striking  spectacle  was  daily 
exhibited  which  the  world  ever  witnessed.  A  vast  stage  of 
justice  was  erected,  awful  from  its  high  authority,  splendid 
from  its  illustrious  dignity,  venerable  from  the  learning  and 
wisdom  of  its  judges,  captivating  and  affecting  from  the 
mighty  concourse  of  all  ranks  and  conditions  which  daily 
flocked  into  it  as  into  a  theatre  of  pleasure.  Here,  when  the 
whole  public  mind  was  at  once  awed  and  softened  to  the 
impression  of  every  human  affection,  there  appeared  day 
after  day,  one  after  another,  men  of  the  most  powerful  and 
exalted  talents,  eclipsing  by  their  accusing  eloquence  the 
most  boasted  harangues  of  antiquity,  rousing  the  pride  of 
national  resentment  by  the  boldest  invectives  against  broken 
faith  and  violated  treaties,  and  shaking  the  bosom  with 
alternate  pity  and  horror  by  the  most  glowing  pictures  of 
insulted  nature  and  humanity ; — ever  animated  and  energetic, 
from  the  love  of  fame,  which  is  the  inherent  passion  of 
genius  ;  firm  and  indefatigable,  from  a  strong  prepossession 
of  the  justice  of  their  cause.  Gentlemen,  when  the  author 
sat  down  to  write  the  book  now  before  you,  all  this  terri- 
ble, unceasing,  exhaustless  artillery  of  warm  zeal,  matchless 
vigour  of  understanding,  consuming  and  devouring  elo- 
quence, united  with  the  highest  dignity,  was  daily,  and  with- 


208  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


out  prospect  of  conclusion,  pouring  forth  upon  one  private 
unprotected  man  who  was  bound  to  hear  it  in  the  face  of 
the  whole  people  of  England  with  reverential  submission  and 
silence.  I  do  not  complain  of  this  as  I  did  of  the  publication 
of  the  charges,  because  it  is  what  the  law  allowed  and 
sanctioned  in  the  course  of  a  public  trial;  but  when  it  is 
remembered  that  we  are  not  angels,  but  weak,  fallible  men, 
and  that  even  the  noble  judges  of  that  high  tribunal  are 
clothed  beneath  their  ermines  with  the  common  infirmities 
of  man's  nature,  it  will  bring  us  all  to  a  proper  temper  for 
considering  the  book  itself  which  will  in  a  few  moments  be  laid 
before  you.  But,  first,  let  me  once  more  remind  you,  that  it 
was  under  all  these  circumstances,  and  amidst,  the  blaze  of 
passion  and  prejudice  which  the  scene  I  have  been  endeav- 
ouring faintly  to  describe  to  you  might  be  supposed  likely 
to  produce,  that  the  author  sat  down  to  compose  the  book 
which  is  prosecuted  to-day  as  a  libel." 

After  paying  that  gentleman  some  compliments,  Erskine 
thus  states  the  motive  by  which  he  had  been  actuated,  and 
the  issue  which  the  jury  had  to  try:  "  He  felt  for  the  situ- 
ation of  a  fellow-citizen,  exposed  to  a  trial  which,  whether 
right  or  wrong,  is  undoubtedly  a  severe  one  ; — a  trial  cer- 
tainly not  confined  to  a  few  criminal  acts,  like  those  we  are 
accustomed  to,  but  comprehending  the  transactions  of  a 
whole  life,  and  the  complicated  policies  of  numerous  and 
distant  nations  ; — a  trial  which  had  neither  visible  limits  to 
its  duration,  bounds  to  its  expense,  nor  circumscribed  com- 
pass for  the  grasp  of  memory  or  understanding; — a  trial 
which  had,  therefore,  broke  loose  from  the  common  form  of 
decision,  and  had  become  the  universal  topic  of  discussion 
in  the  world,  superseding  not  only  every  grave  pursuit,  but 
every  fashionable  dissipation.  Gentlemen,  the  question  you 
have,  therefore,  to  try  upon  all  this  matter,  is  extremely 
simple.  It  is  neither  more  nor  less  than  this.  At  a  time 
when  the  charges  against  Mr.  Hastings  were,  by  the  implied 
consent  of  the  Commons,  in  every  hand  and  on  every  table, — 
when  by  their  harangues  the  lightning  of  eloquence  was 
incessantly  consuming  him,  and  flashing  in  the  eyes  of  the 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  2OQ 


public, — when  every  man  was,  with  perfect  impunity,  saying, 
and  writing,  and  publishing  just  what  he  pleased  of  the  sup- 
posed plunderer  and  devastator  of  nations, — would  it  have 
been  criminal  in  Mr.  Hastings  himself  to  have  reminded  the 
public  that  he  was  a  native  of  this  free  land,  entitled  to  the 
common  protection  of  her  justice,  and  that  he  had  a  defence 
in  his  turn  to  offer  them,  the  outlines  of  which  he  implored 
them,  in  the  meantime,  to  receive  as  an  antidote  to  the 
unlimited  and  unpunished  poison  in  circulation  against  him  ? 
THIS  is  without  colour  or  exaggeration,  the  true  question 
you  are  to  decide.  Gentlemen,  I  tremble  with  indignation 
to  be  driven  to  put  such  a  question  in  England.  Shall 
it  be  endured  that  a  subject  of  this  country — instead 
of  being  arraigned  and  tried  for  some  single  act  in 
her  ordinary  courts,  where  the  accusation,  as  soon  at  least 
as  it  is  made  public,  is  followed  in  a  few  hours  by  the 
decision — may  be  impeached  by  the  House  of  Commons 
for  the  transactions  of  twenty  years — that  the  accusation 
shall  spread  as  wide  as  the  region  of  letters — that  the  accused 
shall  stand,  day  after  day  and  year  after  year,  as  a  spectacle 
before  the  public,  which  shall  be  kept  in  a  perpetual  state 
of  inflammation  against  him, — yet  that  he  shall  not,  without 
the  severest  penalties,  be  permitted  to  say  anything  to  the 
judgment  of  mankind  in  his  defence?  If  this  be  law  (which 
it  is  for  you  to-day  to  decide),  such  a  man  has  no  trial ; — 
that  great  hall,  built  by  our  fathers  for  English  justice,  is  no 
longer  a  court,  but  an  altar, — and  an  Englishman,  instead 
of  being  judged  in  it  by  God  and  his  country,  is  a  victim  and 
a  sacrifice. 

"  If  you  think,  gentlemen,  that  the  common  duty  of  self- 
preservation  in  the  accused  himself,  which  nature  writes  as 
a  law  in  the  hearts  of  even  savages  and  brutes,  is  nevertheless 
too  high  a  privilege  to  be  enjoyed  by  an  impeached  and 
suffering  Englishman  ;  or  if  you  think  it  beyond  the  offices 
of  humanity  and  justice,  when  brought  home  to  the  hand  of 
a  brother,  or  a  friend,  you  will  say  so  by  your  verdict  of 
guilty.  The  decision  will  then  be  yours,  and  the  consolation 
mine, — that  I  laboured  to  avert  it.  A  very  small  part  of  the 


210  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


misery  which  will  follow  from  it  is  likely  to  light  upon  me  ; 
the  rest  will  be  divided  amongst  yourselves  and  your  children." 
"  Having,"  says  Campbell,  in  commenting  upon  this 
speech,  "  at  great  length  and  with  unflagging  spirit,  examined 
the  contents  of  the  pamphlet,  and  commented  on  the  passage 
charged  in  the  information  to  be  libellous, — with  the  view 
of  ingratiating  Mr.  Hastings  defender  with  the  jury,  he  pro- 
ceeds to  take  a  favourable  view  of  the  conduct  of  Mr.  Hastings 
himself, — not  venturing  to  defend  all  his  acts,  but  palliating 
them  so  as  to  make  them  be  forgiven,  or  even  applauded, 
from  the  circumstances  in  which  he  was  placed,  and  the 
instructions  which  he  had  received."  Then  follows  the  finest 
passage  to  be  found  in  ancient  or  modern  oratory — for 
imagery,  for  passion,  for  pathos,  for  variety  and  beauty  of 
cadence,  for  the  concealment  of  art,  for  effect  in  gaining  the 
object  of  the  orator:  *  If  your  dependencies  have  been 
secured,  and  their  interests  promoted,  I  am  driven  in  the 
defence  of  my  client  to  remark,  that  it  is  mad  and  preposter- 
ous to  bring  to  the  standard  of  justice  and  humanity  the 
exercise  of  a  dominion  founded  upon  violence  and  terror.  It 
may  and  must  be  true  that  Mr.  Hastings  has  repeatedly 
offended  against  the  rights  and  privileges  of  Asiatic  govern- 
ment, if  he  was  the  faithful  deputy  of  a  power  which 
could  not  maintain  itself  for  an  hour  without  trampling  upon 
both  ; — he  may  and  must  have  offended  against  the  laws  of 
God  and  nature,  if  he  was  the  faithful  viceroy  of  an  empire 
wrested  in  blood  from  the  people  to  whom  God  and  nature 
had  given  it ; — he  may  and  must  have  preserved  that  unjust 
dominion  over  timorous  and  abject  nations  by  a  terrifying, 
overbearing,  and  insulting  superiority,  if  he  was  the  faithful 
administrator  of  your  government,  which,  having  no  rest  in 
consent  and  affection,  no  foundation  in  similarity  of  interests, 
nor  support  from-  any  one  principle  that  cements  men  to- 
gether in  society,  could  only  be  upheld  by  alternate  strata- 
gem and  force.  The  unhappy  people  in  India,  feeble  and 
effeminate  as  they  are  from  the  softness  of  their  climate, 
and  subdued  and  broken  as  they  have  been  by  the  knavery 
and  strength  of  civilization,  still  occasionally  start  up  in  all 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  ENGLAND.  2  I  I 


the  vigour  and  intelligence  of  insulted  nature : — to  be  gov- 
erned at  all,  they  must  be  governed  with  a  rod  of  iron ;  and 
our  empire  in  the  East  would  have  been  long  since  lost  to 
Great  Britain,  if  civil  and  military  prowess  had  not  united 
their  efforts  to  support  an  authority,  which  Heaven  never 
gave,  by  means  which  it  can  never  sanction. 

"  Gentlemen,  I  think  I  can  observe  that  you  are  touched 
with  this  way  of  considering  the  subject  ;  and  I  can  account 
for  it.  I  have  not  been  considering  it  through  the  cold 
medium  of  books,  but  have  been  speaking  of  man  and  his 
nature,  and  of  human  dominion,  from  what  I  have  seen  of 
them  myself,  amongst  reluctant  nations  submitting  to  our 
authority.  I  know  what  they  feel,  and  how  such  feelings 
can  alone  be  repressed.  I  have  heard  them  in  my  youth 
from  a  naked  savage  in  the  indignant  character  of  a  Prince 
surrounded  by  his  subjects,  addressing  the  governor  of  a 
British  colony,  holding  a  bundle  of  sticks  as  the  notes  of  his 
unlettered  eloquence.  '  Who  is  it,'  said  the  jealous  ruler 
over  the  desert  encroached  upon  by  the  restless  foot  of 
English  adventurers,  'who  is  it  that  causes  this  river  to  rise 
in  the  high  mountains,  and  to  empty  itself  into  the  ocean? 
Who  is  it  that  causes  to  blow  the  loud  winds  of  winter,  and 
that  calms  them  again  in  the  summer  ?  Who  is  it  that  rears 
up  the  shade  of  those  lofty  forests,  and  blasts  them  with  the 
quick  lightning  at  his  pleasure  ?  The  same  Being  who  gave 
to  you  a  country  on  the  other  side  of  the  waters,  and  gave 
ours  to  us :  and  by  this  title  we  will  defend  it,'  said  the 
warrior,  throwing  down  his  tomahawk  upon  the  ground,  and 
raising  the  war-sound  of  his  nation.  These  are  the  feelings 
of  subjugated  men  all  round  the  globe;  and,  depend  upon 
it,  nothing  but  fear  will  control  where  it  is,  vain  to  look  for 
affection. 

"  But  under  the  pressure  of  such  constant  difficulties,  so 
dangerous  to  national  honour,  it  might  be  better,  perhaps, 
to  think  of  effectually  securing  it  altogether,  by  recalling 
our  troops  and  our  merchants,  and  abandoning  our  Asiatic 
empire.  Until  this  be  done,  neither  religion  nor  philosophy 
can  be  pressed  very  far  into  the  aid  of  reformation  and  pun- 


212  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


ishment.  If  England,  from  a  lust  of  ambition  and  dominion, 
will  insist  on  maintaining  despotic  rule  over  distant  and 
hostile  nations,  beyond  all  comparison  more  numerous  and 
extended  than  herself,  and  gives  commission  to  her  viceroys 
to  govern  them,  with  no  other  instructions  than  to  preserve 
them,  and  to  secure  permanently  their  revenues, — with  what 
colour  or  consistency  of  reason  can  she  place  herself  in  the 
moral  chair,  and  affect  to  be  shocked  at  the  execution  of 
her  own  orders,  adverting  to  the  exact  measure  of  wicked- 
ness and  injustice  necessary  to  their  execution,  and  com- 
plaining only  of  the  excess  as  the  immorality  ; — considering 
her  authority  as  a  dispensation  for  breaking  the  commands 
of  God,  and  the  breach  of  them  as  only  punishable  when 
contrary  to  the  ordinances  of  man  ?  Such  a  proceeding, 
gentlemen,  begets  serious  reflections.  It  would  be,  perhaps, 
better  for  the  masters  and  servants  of  all  such  governments 
to  join  in  supplication  that  the  great  Author  of  violated 
humanity  may  not  confound  them  together  in  one  common 
judgment." 

The  author  will  conclude  the  extracts  from  this  speech  by 
giving  Erskine's  reasons  for  allowing  that  license  of  expres- 
sion into  which  writers,  warm  with  their  subjects,  may  be 
betrayed : 

"  From  minds  thus  subdued  by  the  terrors  of  punishment 
there  could  issue  no  works  of  genius  to  expand  the  empire 
of  human  reason,  nor  any  masterly  compositions  on  the 
nature  of  government,  by  the  help  of  which  the  great  com- 
monwealths of  mankind  have  founded  their  establishments  ; 
much  less  any  of  those  useful  applications  of  them  to  critical 
conjunctures,  by  which,  from  time  to  time,  our  own  constitu- 
tion, by  the  exertions  of  patriot  citizens,  has  been  brought 
back  to  its  standard.  Under  such  terrors  all  the  great  lights 
of  science  and  civilisation  must  be  extinguished  ;  for  men 
cannot  communicate  their  free  thoughts  to  one  another 
with  the  lash  held  over  their  heads.  It  is  the  nature  of 
everything  that  is  great  and  useful,  both  in  the  animate  and 
inanimate  world,  to  be  wild  and  irregular  ;  and  we  must  be 
contented  to  take  them  with  the  alloys  which  belong  to 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  ENGLAND.  2 1 3 


them,  or  live  without  them.  Genius  breaks  from  the  fetters 
of  criticism ;  but  its  wanderings  are  sanctioned  by  its 
majesty  and  wisdom  when  it  advances  in  its  path  ;  subject 
it  to  the  critic  and  you  tame  it  into  dulness.  Mighty  rivers 
break  down  their  banks  in  winter,  sweeping  to  death  the 
flocks  which  are  fattened  on  the  soil  that  they  fertilise  in 
the  summer.  Tempests  occasionally  shake  our  dwellings 
and  dissipate  our  commerce ;  but  they  scourge  before  them 
the  lazy  elements  which  without  them  would  stagnate  into 
pestilence.  In  like  manner,  Liberty  herself,  the  last  and 
best  gift  of  God  to  his  creatures,  must  be  taken  just  as  she 
is.  You  might  pare  her  down  into  bashful  regularity,  and 
shape  her  into  a  perfect  model  of  severe  scrupulous  law, 
but  she  then  would  be  Liberty  no  longer  ;  and  you  must  be 
content  to  die  under  the  lash  of  this  inexorable  justice, 
which  you  had  exchanged  for  the  banners  of  freedom." 

Lord  Abinger,  himself  one  of  the  greatest  forensic  orators 
of  his  day,  heard  this  speech  delivered,  and  he  said  that  the 
effect  on  the  audience  was  wholly  unexampled  :  "  that  they 
all  actually  believed  that  they  saw  before  them  the  Indian 
chief  with  his  bundle  of  sticks  and  his  tomahawk, — their 
breasts  thrilled  with  the  notes  of  his  unlettered  eloquence, — 
and  they  thought  they  heard  him  raise  the  war-sound  of 
his  nation."  The  jury  returned  a  verdict  of  "  Not  Guilty." 

Erskine's  defence  of  Hardy  is  worthy  of  study  by  the 
advocate.  Thomas  Hardy  was  one  of  twelve  persons  in- 
dicted by 'the  Grand  Jury  of  Middlesex  for  treason.  The 
prisoner  had  belonged  to  two  societies  having  for  their  pro- 
fessed object  Parliamentary  Reform — the  "  Corresponding 
Society,"  and  the  "  Society  for  Constitutional  Information," 
—having  branch  societies  in  most  of  the  largest  cities  of 
Great  Britain.  Hardy  and  his  associates  were  indicted  for 
attempting  to  bring  about  a  revolution,  the  government 
seeking  to  make  them  responsible  for  the  acts  and  utter- 
ances of  indiscreet  and  zealous  members  of  the  societies 
mentioned.  Hardy  was  tried  alone.  In  this  case  Erskine 
gave  the  death-blow  to  the  doctrine  of  constructive  treason. 

The  trial  of  Hardy  began  on  the  28th  day  of  October, 


214  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


1794,  at  the  Old  Bailey,  before  Lord  Chief-Justice  Eyre, 
and  several  other  judges,  sitting  under  a  special  commission 
of  oyer  and  terminer.  Sir  John  Scott,  then  Attorney-Gen- 
eral, spoke  nine  hours  in  opening  the  case  for  the  prosecu- 
tion. It  is  said  that  no  other  trial  for  high  treason  in 
England  had  ever  occupied  more  than  a  day,  but  at  mid- 
night the  case  was  only  fairly  begun.  The  principal  evidence 
for  the  Crown  consisted,  principally,  of  a  large  number  of 
speeches  made,  and  resolutions  passed,  during  several 
months  at  London,  Edinburgh,  Norwich,  and  other  places, 
when  the  prisoner  had  been  hundreds  of  miles  away, — of 
toasts  at  public  dinners, — and  of  certain  publications  issued 
by  the  societies  mentioned,  or  which  the  societies  had  ap- 
proved, or  which  had  been  written  by  members  of  the 
society. 

Erskine,  ever  ready  to  win  the  favour  of  the  jury,  ex- 
pressed his  willingness  that  they  should  separate  and  go  to 
their  several  homes,  saying :  "  I  am  willing  that  they  shall  be 
as  free  as  air,  with  the  single  restriction  that  they  will  not 
suffer  themselves  to  be  approached  in  the  way  of  influence ; 
and  the  gentlemen  will  not  think  it  much  that  this  should 
be  required,  considering  the  very  peculiar  nature  of  this  case. 

An  objection  being  made  to  their  separation,  it  was  agreed 
that  they  should  pass  the  night  in  a  large  room  in  a  tavern 
nearby,  in  the  care  of  four  bailiffs. 

Erskine,  however,  with  the  great  sagacity  for  which  he  was 
justly  noted,  saw  that  the  address  of  the  Attorney-General 
had  affected  them  deeply,  and  he  determined  to  give  them 
something  else  to  think  about.  So  before  they  retired  he 
said : 

"  My  Lord,  all  this  immense  body  of  papers  has  been 
seized,  and  been  a  long  time  in  the  hands  of  the  officers  of 
the  Crown.  We  applied  to  see  them,  but  were  refused — we 
applied  to  the  Privy  Council,  and  were  refused — we  were  re- 
ferred to  your  Lordship,  because  they  knew  that  your  Lord- 
ship could  not  grant  such  a  request.  Here  we  are,  therefore, 
with  all  these  papers  tumbled  upon  our  hands,  without  the 
least  opportunity  of  examining  them  ;  and  yet  from  this  load 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  ENGLAND.  2  I  5 


of  papers,  which  the  Attorney-General  took  nine  hours  to 
read,  the  act  of  compassing  the  King's  death  is  to  be  col- 
lected. I  trust  your  Lordships  will  be  disposed  to  indulge 
me — indeed  I  shall  expect,  in  justice  to  the  prisoner,  that  I 
may  have  an  opportunity,  before  I  address  the  jury  upon 
this  mass  of  evidence,  to  know  what  is  in  it.  I  declare,  upon 
my  honour,  as  far  as  relates  to  myself  and  my  friend  who  is 
assigned  as  counsel  for  the  prisoner,  we  have  no  design  what- 
ever to  trespass  upon  the  patience  of  the  Court,  and  your 
Lordships  may  have  seen  to-day  how  little  of  your  time  we 
have  consumed.  We  have  no  desire  upon  earth  but  to  do 
our  best  to  save  the  man  for  whom  your  Lordships  have 
assigned  us  to  be  counsel,  and  whom  we  believe  to  be  inno- 
cent." 

Erskine  found  it  necessary  to  keep  in  check,  without  in- 
sulting, Lord  Chief-Justice  Eyre,  who  had  leaned  toward 
the  prosecution  from  the  beginning.  While  a  witness  for 
the  Crown  was  writhing  under  a  severe  cross-examination, 
and  prevaricating  so  as  to  revolt  the  jury,  the  Chief-Justice, 
interrupting,  took  him  out  of  the  counsel's  hands,  and  in  a 
coaxing  manner  repeated  the  question  to  him.  Erskine: 
"  I  am  entitled  to  have  the  benefit  of  this  gentleman's  de- 
portment, if  your  Lordship  will  just  indulge  me  for  one 
moment."  L.  C.-J.  Eyre  :  "  Give  him  fair  play."  Erskine  : 
"  He  has  certainly  had  fair  play.  I  wish  we  had  as  fair  play,  — 
but  that  is  not  addressed  to  the  Court."  Attorney-General : 
"  Whom  do  you  mean  ?  "  Erskine :  "  I  say  the  prisoner 
has  a  right  to  fair  play."  Garrow  :  "  But  you  declared  that 
it  was  not  said  to  the  Court."  Erskine  :  "  I  am  not  to  be 
called  to  order  by  the  Bar." 

The  following  dialogue  exhibits  in  a  striking  manner  Ers- 
kine's  occasional  method  of  treating  the  Court  and  his  adver- 
sary. A  witness  who  pretended  to  relate,  from  notes  he  said 
he  had  taken  of  the  proceedings  of  a  reform  society,  having 
been  asked  for  a  date,  and  having  answered  that  he  thought  it 
was  about  such  a  time.  Erskine  exclaimed  :  "  None  of  your 
thinking  when  you  have  the  paper  in  your  hands  !  "  Wit- 
ness :  "  I  have  not  a  memorandum  of  the  date."  Erskine  : 


2l6  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


11  What  date  have  you  taken,  good  Mr.  Spy  ?  "  Witness  :  "  I 
do  not  think  on  such  an  occasion  being  a  spy  is  any  disgrace." 
Eyre,  C.-J. :  "  These  observations  are  more  proper  when 
you  come  to  address  the  jury."  Attorney-General:  "  Really 
that  is  not  a  proper  way  to  examine  witnesses.  Lord  Holt 
held  strong  language  to  such  sort  of  an  address  from  a  coun- 
sel to  a  witness  who  avowed  himself  a  spy."  Erskine :  "  I 
am  sure  I  shall  always  pay  that  attention  to  the  Court  which 
is  due  from  me ;  but  I  am  not  to  be  told  by  the  Attorney- 
General  how  I  am  to  examine  a  witness  !  "  Attorney-Gen- 
eral :  "  I  thought  you  had  not  heard  his  Lordship."  Erskine  : 
"  I  am  much  obliged  to  his  Lordship  for  the  admonition  he 
gave  me.  I  heard  his  Lordship,  and  I  heard  you, — whom 
I  should  not  have  heard." 

The  celebrated  Home  Tooke,  in  his  copy  of  Hardy's  trial,, 
at  the  end  of  Erskine's  argument,  made  the  following  note  : 
"  This  speech  will  live  forever." 

Erskine  spoke  seven  hours  in  Hardy's  case,  and  it  is  said 
that  the  time  seemed  too  short  to  his  hearers.  For  consti- 
tutional learning,  wit,  pathos,  eloquence,  and  powerful  rea- 
soning, this  speech  must  be  considered  one  of  Erskine's  best 
efforts.  The  author  will  only  give  a  few  extracts  from  it, 
which  should  be  studied  as  a  whole  by  the  reader.  The 
speech  was  well  calculated  to  win  the  affection  and  convince 
the  understanding  of  the  jury,  as  well  as  to  excite  their 
pity  and  indignation. 

After  having  eulogised  the  constitution  of  England,  and 
having  referred  to  the  state  of  affairs  produced  by  the  French 
Revolution,  Erskine  said : 

"  Let  not  him  suffer  under  vague  expositions  of  tyrannical 
laws  more  tyrannically  executed.  Let  not  him  be  hurried 
away  to  pre-doomed  execution,  from  an  honest  enthusiasm 
for  the  public  safety.  I  ask  for  him  a  trial  by  this  applauded 
Constitution  of  our  country:  I  call  upon  you  to  administer 
the  law  to  him  according  to  our  own  wholesome  institutions, 
by  its  strict  and  rigid  letter.  However  you  may  eventually 
disapprove  of  any  part  of  his  conduct,  or,  viewing  it  through 
a  false  medium,  may  think  'it  even  wicked,  I  claim  for  him 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  ENGLAND.  2  I J 


as  a  subject  of  England  that  the  law  shall  decide  upon  its 
criminal  denomination.  I  protest  in  his  name  against  all 
speculations  respecting  consequences  Avhen  the  law  commands 
us  to  look  only  to  intentions.  If  the  state  be  threatened 
with  evils,  let  Parliament  administer  a  prospective  remedy  ; 
but  let  the  prisoner  hold  his  life  iinder  tJie  law.  Gentlemen, 
I  ask  this  solemnly  of  the  Court,  whose  justice  I  am  per- 
suaded will  afford  it  to  me.  I  ask  it  more  emphatically  of 
you,  the  jury,  who  are  called  upon  by  your  oaths  to  make 
a  true  deliverance  of  your  countryman  from  this  charge ; 
but  lastly  and  chiefly  I  implore  it  of  Him  in  whose  hands  are 
all  the  issues  of  life,  whose  merciful  eye  expands  itself  over 
all  the  transactions  of  mankind,  at  whose  command  nations 
rise  and  fall  and  are  regenerated.  I  implore  it  of  God  Him- 
self, that  He  will  fill  your  minds  with  the  spirit  of  truth,  so 
that  you  will  be  able  to  find  your  way  through  the  labyrinth 
of  matter  laid  before  you — a  labyrinth  in  which  no  man's 
life  was  ever  before  involved  in  the  whole  history  of  human 
justice  or  injustice." 

Proceeding  to  consider  the  basis  upon  which  the  charge 
rested,  he  says : 

"  The  unfortunate  man  whose  innocence  I  am  defending 
is  arraigned  before  you  of  high  treason,  upon  evidence  not 
only  repugnant  to  the  statute,  but  such  as  never  yet  was 
heard  in  any  capital  trial — evidence  which,  even  with  all  the 
attention  you  have  given  to  it,  I  defy  any  one  of  you  at  this 
moment  to  say  of  what  it  consists — evidence  (I  tremble  for 
my  boldness,  in  standing  up  for  the  life  of  a  man,  when  I  am 
conscious  I  am  incapable  of  understanding  from  it  even  what 
acts  are  imputed  to  him) — evidence  which  has  consumed 
four  days  in  the  reading,  made  up  from  the  unconnected 
writings  of  men  unknown  to  one  another,  upon  a  hundred 
different  subjects — evidence  the  very  listening  to  which  has 
filled  my  mind  with  unremitting  distress  and  agitation,  and 
which,  from  its  discordant  nature  has  suffered  me  to  reap  no 
advantage  from  your  indulgence,  but  which,  on  the  contrary, 
has  almost  set  my  brain  on  fire  with  the  vain  endeavour  to 
analyse  it.  ...  But  read  these  books  over  and  over 


21 8  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


again,  and  let  us  stand  here  a  year  and  a  day  in  discoursing 
concerning  them,  still  the  question  must  return  to  what  you, 
and  you  only,  can  resolve — Is  he  guilty  of  that  base,  detest- 
able intention  to  destroy  the  King? — not  whether  you  sus- 
pect, nor  whether  it  be  probable — not  whether  he  may  be 
guilty — no,  but  that  * provably '  he  is  guilty.  If  you  can  say 
this  upon  the  evidence,  it  is  your  duty  to  say  so,  and  you 
may  with  a  tranquil  conscience  return  to  your  families, 
though  by  your  judgment  the  unhappy  object  of  it  must 
return  no  more  to  his.  Alas !  gentlemen,  what  do  I  say  ? 
He  has  no  family  to  return  to ;  the  affectionate  partner  of 
his  life  has  already  fallen  a  victim  to  the  surprise  and  horror 
which  attended  the  scene  now  transacting.  But  let  that 
melancholy  reflection  pass — it  should  not,  perhaps,  have 
been  introduced — it  certainly  ought  to  have  no  weight  with 
you  who  are  to  judge  upon  your  oaths.  I  do  not  stand  here 
to  desire  you  to  commit  perjury  from  compassion ;  but,  at 
the  same  time,  my  earnestness  may  be  forgiven,  since  it  pro- 
ceeds from  a  weakness  common  to  us  all,  I  claim  no  merit 
with  the  prisoner  for  my  zeal ;  it  proceeds  from  a  selfish  prin- 
ciple inherent  in  the  human  heart.  I  am  counsel,  gentle- 
men, for  myself.  In  every  word  I  utter,  I  feel  that  I  am 
pleading  for  the  safety  of  my  own  life,  for  the  lives  of  my 
children  after  me,  for  the  happiness  of  my  country,  and  for 
the  universal  condition  of  civil  society  throughout  the 
world." 

Erskine,  perceiving  that  the  jury  was  with  him,  adverted 
to  the  consequence  of  the  principle  on  which  the  prosecution 
was  founded,  in  the  following  words  : 

"  The  delegates  who  attended  the  meetings  could  not  be 
supposed  to  have  met  with  a  different  intention  from  those 
who  sent  them  ;  and  if  the  answer  to  that  is,  that  the  constit- 
uents are  involved  in  the  guilt  of  their  representatives,  we 
get  back  to  the  monstrous  position  from  which  I  observed 
you  before  to  shrink  with  visible  horror  when  I  stated  it — as 
it  involves  in  the  fate  of  this  single  trial  every  man  who  cor- 
responded with  these  societies,  or  who,  as  a  member  of  socie- 
ties in  any  part  of  the  kingdom,  consented  to  the  meeting 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  2ig 

which  was  assembled,  or  to  the  meeting  which  was  in  pros- 
pect. Upwards  of  forty  thousand  persons,  upon  the  lowest 
calculation,  must  alike  be  liable  to  the  pains  and  penalties 
of  the  law,  and  hold  themselves  as  tenants  at  will  of  the  crown. 
The  campaign  of  Judge  Jeffreys,  in  the  west  was  nothing  to 
what  may  follow.  In  whatever  aspect,  therefore,  this  prose- 
cution is  regarded,  new  difficulties  and  new  uncertainties  and 
terrors  surround  it." 

The  manner  in  which  Erskine  handled  one  of  the  witnesses 
for  the  prosecution — a  government  spy — is  interesting  as 
illustrating  his  manner  of  commenting  upon  the  testimony 
of  witnesses,  one  of  the  most  important  functions  of  an  advo- 
cate before  a  jury: 

"  Mr.  Grove  professed  to  speak  from  notes,  yet  I  observed 
him  frequently  looking  up  to  the  ceiling  whilst  he  was  speak- 
ing— when  I  said  to  him  :  '  Are  you  now  speaking  from  a  note  ? 
Have  you  got  any  note  of  what  you  are  now  saying  ?  '  He 
answered  :  'Oh  no ;  this  is  from  recollection/  Good  God 
Almighty  !  Recollection  mixing  itself  up  with  notes  in  a  case 
of  HIGH  TREASON  !  He  did  not  even  take  down  the  words  ; 
nay,  to  do  the  man  justice,  he  did  not  even  affect  to  have 
taken  the  words,  but  only  the  substance,  as  he  himself  expressed 
it.  Oh,  excellent  evidence  !  The  substance  of  words  taken 
down  by  a  spy,  and  supplied  where  defective  by  his  memory  ! 
But  I  must  not  call  him  a  spy,  for  it  seems  he  took  them 
bona  fide  as  a  delegate,  and  yet  bona  fide  as  a  reformer. 
What  a  happy  combination  of  fidelity  !  faithful  to  serve  and 
faithful  to  betray ! — correct  to  record  for  the  benefit  of  the 
society,  and  correct  to  dissolve  and  to  punish  it !  In  the 
last  precedent  which  could  be  cited  of  the  production  of 
such  testimony,  the  case  of  Lord  Stafford,  accused  of  being 
concerned  in  the  Popish  Plot — all  the  proceedings  were 
ordered  to  be  taken  off  the  file  and  burnt,  '  to  the  intent  that 
the  same  might  no  longer  be  visible  to  after  ages,' — an  order, 
dictated,  no  doubt,  by  a  pious  tenderness  for  national  honour 
and  meant  as  a  charitable  covering  for  the  crimes  of  our  fa- 
thers. But  it  was  a  sin  against  posterity  ;  it  was  treason  against 
society ;  for  instead  of  being  burnt  they  should  have  been 


220  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


directed  to  be  blazoned  in  large  letters  upon  the  walls  of  our 
courts  of  justice,  that,  like  the  characters  deciphered  by  the 
prophet  of  God  to  the  Eastern  tyrant,  they  might  enlarge  and 
blacken  in  your  sight  to  terrify  you  from  acts  of  injustice." 

A  few  sentences  from  the  peroration  will  conclude  the 
extracts  from  this  magnificent  speech  : 

"  My  firmest  wish  is  that  we  may  not  conjure  up  a  spirit  to 
destroy  ourselves,  nor  set  the  example  here  of  what  in  another 
country  we  deplore.  Let  us  cherish  the  old  and  venerable 
laws  of  our  forefathers.  Let  our  judicial  administration  be 
strict  and  pure ;  and  let  the  jury  of  the  land  preserve  the  life 
of  a  fellow-subject,  who  only  asks  it  from  them  on  the  same 
terms  under  which  they  hold  their  own  lives,  and  all  that  is 
dear  to  them  and  their  posterity  for  ever.  Let  me  repeat 
the  wish  with  which  I  began  my  address  to  you,  and  which 
proceeds  from  the  very  bottom  of  my  heart ;  may  it  please 
God,  who  is  the  author  of  all  mercies  to  mankind,  whose 
providence  I  am  persuaded  guides  and  superintends  the 
transactions  of  the  world,  and  whose  guardian  spirit  has  ever 
hovered  over  this  prosperous  island,  to  direct  and  fortify 
your  judgments  !  I  am  aware  I  have  not  acquitted  myself 
to  the  unfortunate  man  who  has  put  his  trust  in  me  in  the 
manner  I  could  have  wished  ; — yet  I  am  unable  to  proceed 
any  farther — exhausted  in  spirit  and  in  strength — but  con- 
fident in  the  expectation  of  justice." 

It  is  said  that  Erskine's  exertions  were  so  great  that  for 
ten  minutes  before  he  sat  down  he  could  only  whisper  to 
the  jury,  but  the  stillness  was  so  intense  that  his  faintest 
accents  were  heard  in  the  remotest  parts  of  the  court-room. 

When  he  finished  his  speech  it  is  said  that  an  irresistible 
acclamation,  pervaded  the  court  and  was  repeated  to  an 
immense  distance  around. 

The  streets  were  crowded  with  people,  and  it  was  some 
time  before  the  judges  were  able  to  get  to  their  carriages, 
Erskine  went  out,  and  addressed  the  multitude,  asking  them 
to  confide  in  the  justice  of  their  country.  He  reminded 
them  that  the  only  security  of  Englishmen  was  under  the 
laws,  and  that  any  attempt  to  overawe  them  would  not  only 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN-  ENGLAND.  22 1 


bean  affront  to  public  justice,  but  would  probably  endanger 
the  lives  of  the  accused.  He  then  asked  them  to  retire,  and 
they  immediately  dispersed. 

The  jury  shortly  returned  a  verdict  of  "Not    Guilty" 

To  the  surprise  of  everybody,  after  Hardy's  acquittal, 
John  Home  Tooke  was  placed  on  trial.  It  had  been  the 
custom  from  time  immemorial  for  the  Government  to  aban- 
don the  prosecution  after  the  acquittal  of  the  first  man  tried 
of  several  jointly  charged  with  high  treason. 

John  Home  Tooke  was  a  man  of  great  ability,  of  popular 
manners,  and  of  unrivalled  powers  of  sarcasm.  He  was  also 
perfectly  fearless  in  court  or  out.  For  instance  in  a  case 
where  he  was  his  own  counsel  in  an  action  brought  against 
him  by  Mr.  Fox  for  the  expenses  of  the  Westminster  elec- 
tion petition,  he  began  his  address  to  the  jury  as  follows: 
"  Gentlemen,  there  are  here  three  parties  to  be  considered — 
You,  Mr.  Fox,  and  myself.  As  for  the  Judge  and  the  crier, 
they  are  sent  here  to  preserve  order,  and  they  are  both  well 
paid  for  their  trouble." 

Tooke's  health  was  bad  at  the  time  of  his  arraignment, 
but  his  mental  faculties  were  unimpaired,  as  his  opponents 
ascertained,  to  their  cost,  before  the  close  of  the  trial.  After 
the  indictment  was  read,  Tooke  was  asked  how  he  would  be 
tried.  Campbell  says  that,  although  perfectly  confident  of 
an  acquittal,  he  gave  a  foretaste  of  what  might  be  expected 
during  the  trial,  by  putting  on  the  aspect  of  a  man  weighed 
down  by  his  oppressors,  by  looking  around  the  court-room 
some  seconds  with  an  air  of  significant  meaning,  which  few 
assumed  better,  and  by  answering  while  he  emphatically 
shook  his  head,  "  I  would  be  tried  by  God  and  my  country  ! 

But "  Here  he  paused,  having  intimated  with  sufficient 

distinctness  that  he  feared  much  that  he  should  not  have  this 
advantage. 

Campbell  says  :  "  An  application  having  been  made  that, 
on  account  of  his  infirmities,  he  might  be  permitted  to  sit 
by  his  counsel,  he  was  told  that  '  this  indulgence  should 
be  shown  him.'  Instead  of  humbly  thanking  the  Judge  in 
whose  hands  he  was,  and  who  was  by  and  by  to  direct  the 


222  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


jury  on  the  question  of  his  life  or  death,  he  observed,  in  a 
very  quiet  familiar  tone,  '  I  cannot  help  saying,  my  Lord, 
that  if  I  were  a  Judge,  that  word  "  indulgence"  should  never 
issue  from  my  lips.  My  Lord,  you  have  no  indulgence  to 
show ;  you  are  bound  to  be  just ;  and  to  be  just  is  to  do 
that  which  is  ordered.'  ' 

Once  seated  at  the  table  with  the  counsel,  he  was  the  most 
facetious  and  light-hearted  of  mortals,  and  seemed  to  have 
as  much  enjoyment  in  the  proceeding  as  a  young  advocate 
who  has  unexpectedly  got  a  brief  with  a  good  fee  in  a  win- 
ning cause,  which  has  excited  great  interest,  and  by  which 
he  expects  to  make  his  fortune.  "  Cool  and  prompt,  ready 
at  repartee  and  fond  of  notoriety,  he  trod  the  boards  of  the 
Old  Bailey  like  some  amateur  actor  pleased  with  his  part, 
and  resolved  to  make  the  most  of  it,  even  though  the  catas- 
trophe should  terminate  in  his  death.  After  the  acquittal 
of  Hardy  the  reverend  agitator  would  have  deprecated  his 
not  being  brought  to  trial  as  a  personal  misfortune.  It  is 
impossible  to  read  this  grave  state  prosecution  without  fre- 
quently indulging  in  an  involuntary  smile.  From  the  con- 
stant merriment  which  rewarded  his  sallies,  it  might  be 
guessed  that  a  madder  wag  never  stood  at  the  bar ;  and  yet 
he  rarely  laughed  himself,  but  glanced  around,  from  his  keen 
and  arch  eyes,  a  satirical  look  of  triumph.  To  the  credit  of 
Erskine  be  it  stated,  that  he  was  not  at  all  annoyed  by  the 
sallies  of  his  client,  although  they  were  sometimes  unseason- 
able, nor  jealous  of  the  eclat  which  they  brought  him ;  but, 
on  the  contrary,  encouraged  him  to  interpose,  and  rejoiced 
in  the  success  of  his  hits.  While  the  evidence  for  the  prose- 
cution was  going  on,  he  seemed  content  with  the  office  of 
being  second  to  one  so  perfect  in  the  art  of  forensic  duelling." 

Campbell  also  gives  the  following  quips  of  Tooke  which 
Erskine  highly  applauded : 

"  Passages  being  read  from  pamphlets  published  by  the 
Societies,  abusing  the  King  and  the  Lords,  he  offered  to  prove 
that  much  abuse  of  himself  had  been  printed  on  earthenware 
vessels.  A  witness  having  said  that  a  treasonable  song  had 
been  sung  at  a  public  meeting,  he  proposed  that  it  should  be 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  22$ 


sung  in  court,  so  that  the  jury  might  ascertain  whether  there 
was  anything  treasonable,  resembling  fa  ira  or  the  Marseil- 
laise Hymn,  in  the  tune.  He  not  unfrequently  succeeded  in 
arguing  questions  of  evidence,  and  if  found  out  to  be  clearly 
wrong,  he  took  a  pinch  of  snuff,  and  quietly  apologised,  by 
saying,  that .  *  he  was  only  a  student  of  forty  years'  stand- 
ing.' On  one  occasion,  when  he  objected  to  the  admissi- 
bility  of  evidence  of  a  particular  fact,  on  the  ground  that  he 
was  not  connected  with  it,  Eyre  reminded  him,  that  if  there 
were  two  or  three  links  to  make  a  chain,  they  must  go  to 
one  first,  and  then  to  another,  and  see  whether  the  chain  was 
made.  Home  Tooke :  '  I  beg  your  pardon,  my  Lord,  but  is 
not  a  chain  composed  of  links?  and  may  I  not  disjoin  each 
link  ?  and  do  I  not  thereby  destroy  the  chain  ?  '  Eyre,  C-J.  : 
'  I  rather  think  not,  till  the  links  are  put  together  and  form 
the  chain.'  Home  Tooke  :  '  Nay,  my  Lord,  with  great  sub- 
mission to  your  Lordship,  I  rather  think  that  I  may,  because 
it  is  my  business  to  prevent  the  forming  of  that  chain.' 
To  prove  him  to  be  a  republican,  evidence  was  given  that  a 
society,  of  which  he  was  a  member,  had  approved  of  certain 
proceedings  in  the  National  Assembly.  '  Egad,'  said  he, 
*  it  is  lucky  we  did  not  say  there  were  some  good  things  in 
the  Koran,  or  we  should  have  been  charged  to  be  Mahome- 
tans.' Having  put  questions  to  show  that  at  public  meetings 
they  had  often  disapproved  of  his  sentiments  and  his  conduct, 
he  gave  a  knowing  nod  to  the  jury,  and  said :  *  My  object, 
gentlemen,  was  to  show  that  after  I  had  deposed  our  Lord 
the  King,  I  was  likely  to  have  very  troublesome  subjects,  for 
I  was  constantly  received  with  hisses."  By  putting  the  fol- 
lowing question,  he  excited  a  roar  of  laughter  against  the 
solemn  and  empty  Beaufoy,  who  pretended  hardly  to  know 
him,  and  denied  all  recollection  of  a  date  to  which  he  was 
interrogated  :  '  Now,  witness,  upon  your  oath,  was  it  not  the 
very  day  that  you  complained  so  bitterly  to  me  you  could 
not  sleep  because,  notwithstanding  all  your  services  to  Mr. 
Pitt,  and  all  the  money  you  had  spent  in  his  cause,  he  had 
refused  to  return  your  bow  ?  '  Few  were  aware  at  the  time 
that  this  was  pure  invention,  to  expose  a  tuft-hunter.  The 


224  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


Attorney-General,  in  repelling  some  insinuations  thrown  out 
against  him  for  the  manner  in  which  he  had  instituted  these 
prosecutions,  said,  '  he  could  endure  anything  but  an  attack 
on  his  good  name  ;  it  was  the  little  patrimony  he  had  to  leave 
to  his  children,  and  with  God's  help  he  would  leave  it  unim- 
paired.' He  then  burst  into  tears,  which,  from  his  lachry- 
mose habit,  surprised  no  one  ;  but  to  the  wonder  of  all,  the 
Solicitor-General,  not  known  to  be  of  the  melting  mood,  be- 
came equally  affected  and  sobbed  in  concert  with  his  friend. 
Tooke,  afraid  that  this  sympathy  might  extend  to  the  jury, 
exclaimed  in  a  stage  whisper  :  '  Do  you  know  what  Sir  John 
Mitford  is  crying  about  ?  He  is  thinking  of  the  destitute 
condition  of  Sir  John  Scott's  children,  and  the  little  patri- 
mony they  are  likely  to  divide  among  them.'  " 

Erskine's  speech,  in  defence,  was  excellent,  almost  as  good 
as  that  in  behalf  of  Hardy.  In  commenting  upon  the  au- 
thorities cited  by  his  opponents,  he  said  :  "  To  give  the  case 
of  Lord  Lovat  any  bearing,  upon  the  present,  you  must  first 
prove  that  our  design  was  to  arm,  and  I  shall  then  admit  the 
argument  and  the  conclusion.  But  has  such  proof  been  given 
on  the  present  trial?  It  has  not  been  attempted  ;  the  abor- 
tive evidence  of  arms  has  been  abandoned.  Even  the  solitary 
pike  that  formerly  glared  rebellion  from  the  corner  of  the 
court,  no  longer  makes  its  appearance,  and  the  knives  have 
returned  to  their  ancient  office  of  carving.  Happy  was  it 
indeed  for  me  that  they  were  ever  produced,  for  so  perfectly 
common  were  they  throughout  all  England,  and  so  notori- 
ously in  use  for  the  most  ordinary  purposes,  that  public  jus- 
tice and  benevolence,  shocked  at  the  perversion  of  truth  in 
the  evidence  concerning  them,  kept  pouring  them  in  upon 
me  from  all  quarters.  The  box  before  me  is  half  full  of  them, 
and  if  all  other  trades  fail  me,  I  might  now  set  up  a  cutler's 
shop." 

He  pointed  out  the  improbability  of  the  charge  against 
Tooke  as  follows  :  "  Yet  this  gentleman,  greatly  advanced  in 
years,  and  broken  in  health,  who  was  shut  up  then  and  long 
before,  within  the  compass  of  his  house  and  garden  at  Wim- 
bledon, where  he  used  to  wish  that  an  act  of  Parliament 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  22$ 


might  confine  him  for  life — who  was  painfully  devoting  the 
greatest  part  of  his  time  to  the  advancement  of  learning — 
who  was  absorbed  in  researches  which  will  hereafter  astound 
the  world — who  was  at  that  very  moment  engaged  in  a  work 
such  as  the  labour  of  man  hardly  ever  undertook,  nor  perhaps 
his  ingenuity  ever  accomplished — who  never  saw  the  Con- 
stitutional Society  but  in  the  courtesy  of  a  few  short  mo- 
ments after  dining  with  some  of  the  most  respectable 
members,  and  who  positively  objected  to  the  very  measure 
which  is  the  whole  foundation  of  this  prosecution, — is  yet 
gravely  considered  to  be  the  master-spirit  which  was  con- 
tinually directing  all  the  movements  of  a  conspiracy  as  ex- 
tensive as  the  island — the  planner  of  a  revolution  in  the 
government,  and  the  active  head  of  an  armed  rebellion. 
Gentlemen,  is  this  a  proposition  to  be  submitted  to  the  judg- 
ment of  honest  and  enlightened  men,  upon  a  trial  of  life  and 
death  ?  Why,  there  is  nothing  in  the  Arabian  Knights  or  in 
the  Tales  of  the  Fairies  which  is  not  dull  matter  of  fact  com- 
pared with  it.  ...  Filled  with  indignation  that  an  inno- 
cent man  should  be  consigned  to  a  prison  for  treading  in  the 
very  steps  which  had  conducted  the  Premier  to  his  present 
.situation,  Mr.  Home  Tooke  did  write  *  that  if  ever  that  man 
should  be  brought  to  trial  for  his  desertion  of  the  cause  of 
parliamentary  reform,  he  hoped  the  country  would  not  con- 
sent to  send  him  to  Botany  Bay  '  ;  but  whatever  you  may 
think  of  this  sentiment,  Mr.  Tooke  is  not  indicted  for  com- 
passing and  imagining  the  death  of  William  Pitt." 

The  flimsy  case  against  Home  Tooke  rested  chiefly  upon  the 
following  letter  addressed,  to  one  Joyce,  one  of  the  alleged 
conspirators  :  "  Dear  Citizen  : — This  morning  at  six  o'clock 
citizen  Hardy  was  taken  away  by  order  from  the  Secretary  of 
State's  office  :  they  seized  everything  they  could  lay  hands 
on.  Query. — Is  it  possible  to  get  ready  by  Thursday  ?"  This 
-evidence  was  disposed  of  by  Erskine,  as  follows  :  "  This 
letter  being  intercepted,  was  packed  into  the  green  box  and 
reserved  to  establish  the  plot.  It  is  another  lesson  of  cau- 
tion against  vague  suspicions.  Mr.  Tooke  having  under- 
taken to  collect  from  the  Court  Calendar  a  list  of  the  titles, 


226  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


offices,  and  pensions  bestowed  by  Mr.  Pitt  on  his  relations, 
friends,  and  dependants,  and  being  too  correct  to  come  out 
with  a  work  of  that  magnitude  and  extent  upon  a  short  no- 
tice, had  fixed  no  time  for  it — which  induced  Mr.  Joyce, 
who  was  anxious  for  its  publication,  to  ask  if  he  could  be 
ready  with  it  by  Thursday — using  the  French  designation  of 
'  citizen  '  for  the  purpose  of  turning  it  into  ridicule !  " 

Erskine  then  said  :  "  To  expose  further  the  extreme  ab- 
surdity of  this  accusation,  if  it  be  possible  further  to  expose 
it,  let  me  imagine  that  we  are  again  at  peace  with  France, 
while  the  other  nations  who  are  now  our  allies  should  con- 
tinue to  prosecute  the  war, — would  it  then  be  criminal  to 
congratulate  France  upon  her  success  against  them  ?  When 
that  time  arrives,  might  I  not  honestly  wish  the  triumph  of 
the  French  armies  ?  And  might  I  not  lawfully  express  that 
wish  ?  I  know  certainly  that  I  might — and  I  know  also  that 
I  would  !  I  observe  that  this  sentiment  seems  a  bold  one  ;  but 
who  is  prepared  to  tell  me  that  I  shall  not  ?  I  WILL  assert 
the  freedom  of  an  Englishman  ;  I  WILL  maintain  the  dignity 
of  man.  I  WILL  vindicate  and  glory  in  the  principles  which 
raised  this  country  to  her  pre-eminence  among  the  nations 
of  the  earth  ;  and  as  she  shone  the  bright  star  of  the  morn- 
ing to  shed  the  light  of  liberty  upon  nations  which  now  en- 
joy it,  so  may  she  continue  in  her  radiant  sphere  to  revive 
the  ancient  privileges  of  the  world,  which  have  been  lost, 
and  still  to  bring  them  forward  to  tongues  and  people  who 
have  never  yet  known  them,  in  the  mysterious  progression 
of  things." 

Erskine's  peroration  was  admirable  :  "  I  cannot  conclude 
without  observing  that  the  conduct  of  this  abused  and  un- 
fortunate gentleman  throughout  the  whole  of  this  trial  has 
certainly  entitled  him  to  admiration  and  respect.  I  had 
undoubtedly  prepared  myself  to  conduct  his  cause  in  a  man- 
ner totally  different  from  that  which  I  have  pursued.  It 
was  my  purpose  to  have  selected  those  parts  of  the  evidence 
only  by  which  he  was  affected,  and  to  have  separated  him 
from  the  rest.  By  such  a  course  I  could  have  steered  his 
vessel  safely  through  all  perils,  and  brought  her  without 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  22/ 


damage  into  a  harbour  of  safety,  while  the  other  unfortunate 
prisoners  were  left  to  ride  out  this  awful  tempest.  But  he 
would  not  suffer  his  defence  to  be  put  upon  the  footing 
which  discretion  would  have  suggested.  Though  not  impli- 
cated in  the  supposed  conspiracy,  he  has  charged  me  to 
waste  and  destroy  my  strength  to  prove  that  no  such  guilt 
can  be  brought  home  to  others.  I  rejoice  in  having  been 
made  the  humble  instrument  of  so  much  good — my  heart 
was  never  so  much  in  any  cause." 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  judge's  charge,  the  jury  immedi- 
ately returned  a  verdict  of  "  Not  Guilty."  The  Government 
was  not  yet  satisfied  and,  consequently,  a  third  prisoner, 
Thelwall  was  put  upon  trial.  Thelwall  was  a  fool,  and 
ought  to  have  been  hung  two  or  three  times,  on  general 
principles.  He  frequently  interfered  with  Erskine  during 
the  progress  of  the  trial,  and  at  one  time  he  was  so  much 
dissatisfied,  that  he  wrote  on  a  piece  of  paper,  which  he 
threw  to  Erskine,  "  I  '11  be  hanged  if  I  don't  plead  my  own 
cause " ;  upon  which  his  counsel  returned  for  answer : 
"  You  '11  be  hanged  if  you  do." 

The  Government  endeavoured  to  make  this  case  as  short 
as  possible,  and  it  ended  early  on  the  third  day.  In  the 
conduct  of  the  cause  Erskine  displayed  his  usual  zeal  and 
ability.  One  passage  of  his  speech,  in  which  he  sought  to 
destroy  the  effect  of  very  indiscreet  and  very  intemperate 
language  against  the  Government  imputed  to  the  prisoner 
by  a  spy,  was  admirable.  After  making  an  attack  upon  the 
credibility  of  the  witness,  Erskine  proceeded  as  follows : 

"  Even  if  the  very  phrase  had  not  been  exaggerated,  if  the 
particular  sentence  had  not  been  coloured  or  distorted,  what 
allowance  ought  there  not  to  be  made  for  infirmity  of  tem- 
per, and  the  faults  of  the  tongue,  in  a  period  of  intense 
excitement.  Let  me  ask,  who  would  be  safe,  if  every  loose, 
word,  if  every  vague  expression,  uttered  in  the  moment  of 
inadvertence  or  irritation,  were  to  be  admitted  as  sufficient 
evidence  of  a  criminal  purpose  of  the  most  atrocious  nature  ? 
In  the  judgment  of  God  we  should,  indeed,  be  safe,  because 
He  knows  the  heart — He  knows  the  infirmities  with  which  He 


228  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


hath  clothed  us,  and  makes  allowance  for  those  errors  which 
arise  from  the  imperfect  state  of  our  nature.  From  that 
perfect  acquaintance  which  He  possesses  with  our  frame,  He 
is  qualified  to  regard  in  their  proper  point  of  view  the  invol- 
untary errors  of  the  misguided  mind,  and  the  intemperate 
effusions  of  the  honest  heart.  With  respect  to  these,  in  the 
words  of  a  beautiful  moral  writer,  '  the  accusing  angel,  who 
flies  up  to  Heaven's  chancery,  blushes  as  he  gives  them  in, 
and  the  recording  angel,  as  he  writes  them  down,  drops  a 
tear  upon  the  words  and  blots  them  out  for  ever.'  Who  is 
there  that  in  the  moment  of  levity  or  of  passion  has  not 
adopted  the  language  of  profaneness,  and  even  trifled  with 
the  name  of  the  God  whom  he  adores  ?  Who  has  not  in  an 
unguarded  hour,  from  a  strong  sense  of  abuse,  or  a  quick 
resentment  of  public  misconduct,  inveighed  against  the 
Government  to  which  he  is  most  firmly  attached  ?  Who  has 
not,  under  the  impulse  of  peevishness  and  misapprehension, 
made  use  of  harsh  and  unkind  expressions,  even  with  respect 
to  his  best  and  dearest  relations — expressions  which,  if  they 
were  supposed  to  proceed  from  the  heart,  would  destroy  all 
the  affection  and  confidence  of  private  life  ?  If  there  is  such 
a  man  present  so  uniformly  correct  in  expression,  so  guarded 
from  mistake,  so  superior  to  passion,  let  him  stand  forth,  let 
him  claim  all  the  praise  due  to  a  character  so  superior  to  the 
common  state  of  humanity.  For  myself,  I  will  only  say, 
I  am  not  the  man." 

The  jury  returned  a  verdict  of  "  Not  Guilty."  The  Attor- 
ney-General, after  the  acquittal  of  Thelwall,  declined  to  pro- 
ceed against  the  other  prisoners,  and  they  were  acquitted 
without  any  evidence  being  offered  against  them. 

Erskine  was  employed,  some  time  after  the  trial  of  Thel- 
wall, to  prosecute  a  bookseller  by  the  name  of  Williams 
for  a  blasphemous  libel  on  the  Christian  religion.  The 
Government  took  the  ground  that  a  wider  circulation 
would  only  be  given  to  the  book  by  the  notoriety  of  a  pub- 
lic trial  and  abstained  from  prosecuting.  "  The  Society  for 
the  Suppression  of  Vice  and  Immorality,"  preferred  the  in- 
dictment. 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  229 


A  few  extracts  from  his  eloquent  speech  in  this  case  will 
well  repay  an  attentive  perusal : 

"  '  For  my  own  part,  gentlemen,  I  have  been  ever  deeply 
devoted  to  the  truths  of  Christianity ;  and  my  firm  belief  in 
the  Holy  Gospel  is  by  no  means  owing  to  the  prejudices  of 
education  (though  I  was  religiously  educated  by  the  best  of 
parents),  but  has  arisen  from  the  fullest  and  most  continued 
reflections  of  my  riper  years  and  understanding'.  It  forms 
at  this  moment  the  great  consolation  of  a  life  which  as  a 
shadow  passes  away  ;  and  without  it  I  should  consider  my 
long  course  of  health  and  prosperity  (too  long,  perhaps,  and 
too  uninterrupted  to  be  good  for  any  man)  only  as  the  dust 
which  the  wind  scatters,  and  rather  as  a  snare  than  as  a 
blessing/  Having  read  and  commented  on  some  of  the 
most  obnoxious  parts  of  the  book,  he  continued :  '  In  run- 
ning the  mind  over  the  long  list  of  sincere  and  devout 
Christians,  I  cannot  help  lamenting  that  Newton  had  not 
lived  to  this  day  to  have  had  the  darkness  of  his  under- 
standing illuminated  by  this  new  flood  of  light.  But  the 
subject  is  too  awful  for  irony.  I  will  speak  plainly  and 
directly.  Newton  was  a  Christian ! — Newton,  whose  mind 
burst  forth  from  the  fetters  fastened  by  nature  upon  our 
finite  conceptions ! — Newton,  who  carried  the  line  and  rule 
to  the  uttermost  barriers  of  creation,  and  explained  the 
principles  by  which  all  created  matter  exists  and  is  held 
together!'  In  a  similar  strain  he  appealed  to  the  testi- 
mony of  Boyle,  Locke,  and  Hale,  and  then  introduced  a  still 
greater  name :  '  But  it  is  said  by  the  author  that  the  Chris- 
tian's fable  is  but  the  tale  of  the  more  ancient  superstitions 
of  the  world,  and  may  be  easily  detected  by  a  proper  under- 
standing of  the  mythologies  of  the  heathens.  Did  Milton 
understand  these  mythologies  ?  Was  HE  less  versed  than 
Mr.  Paine  in  the  superstitions  of  the  world  ?  No !  they 
were  the  subjects  of  his  immortal  song,  and  he  poured  them 
forth  from  the  stores  of  a  memory  rich  with  all  that  man  ever 
knew,  and  laid  them  in  their  order  as  the  illustration  of  real 
and  exalted  faith — the  unquestionable  source  of  that  fervid 
genius  which  has  cast  a  shade  on  the  other  works  of  man  : 


HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 

"  He  pass'd  the  flaming  bounds  of  place  and  time, 
The  living  throne,  the  sapphire  blaze, 
Where  angels  tremble  while  they  gaze. 
He  saw — but,  blasted  with  excess  of  light, 
Closed  his  eyes  in  endless  night." 

But  it  was  the  light  of  the  body  only  which  was  extin- 
guished. The  celestial  light  shone  inward,  and  enabled  him 
to  "justify  the  ways  of  God  to  man"  ' 

Before  concluding,  Erskine  pays  a  tribute  to  the  benefits 
of  free  and  enlightened  discussion  : 

"  I  do  not  dread  the  reasonings  of  Deists  against  the 
existence  of  Christianity  itself,  because,  as  was  said  by  its 
Divine  Author,  if  it  be  of  God  it  will  stand.  An  intellect- 
ual book,  however  erroneous,  addressed  to  the  intellectual 
world,  upon  so  profound  and  complicated  a  subject,  can 
never  work  the  mischief  which  this  indictment  is  calculated 
to  repress.  Such  works  will  only  incite  the  minds  of  men, 
cultivated  by  study,  to  a  closer  investigation  of  a  subject 
well  worthy  of  their  deepest  and  continued  contemplation. 
The  changes  produced  by  such  reciprocations  of  lights  and 
intelligences  are  certain  in  their  progression,  and  make  their 
way  imperceptibly  by  the  final  and  irresistible  power  of 
truth.  If  Christianity  be  founded  in  falsehood,  let  us  become 
Deists  in  this  manner,  and  I  am  contented.  But  this  book 
has  no  such  object,  and  no  such  capacity ;  it  presents  no 
arguments  to  the  wise  and  the  educated  ;  on  the  contrary, 
it  treats  the  faith  and  opinion  held  sacred  by  the  British 
people,  with  scoffing  and  ribaldry,  and  tends  to  make  the 
thoughtless  multitude  view  with  contempt  the  obligations 
of  law  and  the  precepts  of  morality." 

The  jury  instantly  found  a  verdict  of  "Guilty." 

Erskine  thought  very  highly  of  his  speech  in  this  case. 
In  a  letter  to  Lord  Campbell  in  reference  to  this  prosecu- 
tion he  said :  "  My  opening  speech,  correctly  as  it  was 
uttered  in  court,  is  in  Mr.  Ridgway's  collection  of  my 
speeches  at  the  bar.  It  was  first  printed  by  the  Society 
and  circulated  to  a  very  wide  extent, — which  gave  me  the 
greatest  satisfaction  ;  as  I  would  rather  all  my  other  speeches 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN-  ENGLA  ND.  2  3 1 


were  committed  to  the  flames,  or  in  any  manner  buried  in 
oblivion,  than  that  a  single  page  of  it  should  be  lost." 

Erskine  said  that  none  of  his  speeches  had  been  so  much 
"admired  and  approved  "  as  his  speech  in  defence  of  Had- 
field.  This  was  the  last  case  where  he  defended  a  prisoner 
accused  by  the  Crown.  James  Hadfield  was  indicted  for 
shooting  at  King  George  III.  in  Drury  Lane  Theatre. 
Erskine  put  in  the  plea  of  insanity.  The  case  made  out 
by  the  prosecution  made  a  deep  impression  upon  the  minds 
of  the  court  and  jury. 

It  is  said  that  Erskine  began  his  address  to  the  jury  in 
a  subdued  and  solemn  tone,  in  order  that  he  might  win  the 
sympathies  of  the  jury,  and  to  prepare  them  for  the  dis- 
cussion of  the  important  question  arising  from  the  distinc- 
tion between  the  "  insanity  of  passion,  unaccompanied  by 
delusion,  and  that  total  derangement  of  the  intellectual 
faculties  which  ought  to  exempt  from  punishment  acts  the 
most  atrocious."  The  few  extracts  which  follow  are  all  that 
will  be  given,  but  the  whole  speech  should  be  studied  by 
lawyers  and  physicians  for  its  philosophical  and  accurate 
views  of  mental  disease,  as  well  as  for  its  eloquence  and 
touching  appeals  to  human  feeling.  Erskine  said  : 

"  The  scene  which  we  are  engaged  in,  and  the  duty  which 
I  am  not  merely  privileged  but  appointed  by  the  authority 
of  the  Court  to  perform,  exhibits  to  the  whole  civilised 
world  a  perpetual  monument  of  our  national  justice.  The 
transaction,  indeed,  in  every  part  of  it,  as  it  stands  recorded 
in  the  evidence  already  before  us,  places  our  country  and 
its  government  and  its  inhabitants  upon  the  highest  pinnacle 
of  human  elevation.  It  appears  that  upon  the  I5th  of  May 
last,  His  Majesty,  after  a  reign  of  forty  years,  not  merely 
in  sovereign  power,  but  spontaneously,  in  the  very  hearts 
of  his  people,  was  openly  shot  at  (or  to  all  appearance  shot 
at)  in  a  public  theatre  in  the  centre  of  his  capital,  and  amidst 
the  loyal  plaudits  of  his  subjects ;  YET  NOT  A  HAIR  OF  THE 
HEAD  OF  THE  SUPPOSED  ASSASSIN  WAS  TOUCHED.  In  this 
unparalleled  scene  of  calm  forbearance,  the  King  himself, 
though  he  stood  first  in  personal  interest  and  feeling,  as 


232  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


well  as  in  command,  was  a  singular  and  fortunate  example. 
The  least  appearance  of  emotion  on  the  part  of  that  august 
personage  must  unavoidably  have  produced  a  scene  quite 
different  and  far  less  honourable  than  the  Court  is  now  wit- 
nessing :  but  his  Majesty  remained  unmoved,  and  the  per- 
son  apparently  offending  was  only  secured,  without  injury 
or  reproach,  for  the  business  of  this  day."  After  the  advo- 
cate had  gracefully  insinuated  himself  into  the  favour  of 
the  jury,  by  an  appeal  to  their  loyal  sympathies,  he  comes 
to  discuss  the  question  on  which  their  verdict  was  to 
depend :  "  It  is  agreed  by  all  jurists,  and  is  established  by 
the  law  of  this  and  every  other  country,  that  it  is  the  reason 
of  man  which  makes  him  accountable  for  his  actions,  and 
that  the  deprivation  of  reason  acquits  him  of  crime.  This 
principle  is  indisputable ;  yet  so  fearfully  and  wonderfully 
are  we  made, — so  infinitely  subtle  is  the  spiritual  part  of 
our  being, — so  difficult  is  it  to  trace  with  accuracy  the  effect 
of  diseased  intellect  upon  human  action,  that  I  may  appeal 
to  all  who  hear  me,  whether  there  are  any  causes  more  dif- 
ficult, or  which  indeed  so  often  confound  the  learning  of 
the  judges  themselves,  as  when  insanity,  or  the  effects  and 
consequences  of  insanity,  become  the  subjects  of  legal 
consideration  and  judgment?  Your  province,  to-day,  will 
be  to  decide  whether  the  prisoner,  when  he  did  the  act, 
was  under  the  uncontrollable  dominion  of  insanity,  and  was 
impelled  to  do  it  by  a  morbid  delusion,  or  whether  it 
was  the  act  of  a  man  who,  though  occasionally  mad,  or  even 
at  the  time  not  perfectly  collected,  was  yet  not  actuated  by 
the  disease,  but  by  the  suggestion  of  a  wicked  and  malig- 
nant disposition.  It  is  true,  indeed,  that  in  some,  perhaps 
in  many  cases,  the  human  mind  is  stormed  in  its  citadel,  and 
laid  prostrate  under  the  stroke  of  frenzy ;  these  unhappy 
sufferers,  however,  are  not  so  much  considered  by  physi- 
cians as  maniacs,  as  in  a  state  of  delirium  from  fever. 
There,  indeed,  all  the  ideas  are  overwhelmed,  for  reason 
is  not  merely  disturbed,  but  driven  from  her  seat.  Such 
unhappy  patients  are  unconscious,  therefore,  except  at  short 
intervals,  even  of  external  objects,  or  at  least  are  wholly 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  233 


incapable  of  understanding  their  relations.  Such  persons, 
and  such  persons  alone  (except  idiots),  are  wholly  deprived 
of  their  understandings,  in  the  Attorney-General's  sense  of 
that  expression.  But  these  cases  are  not  only  extremely 
rare,  but  can  never  become  the  subjects  of  judicial  difficulty. 
There  can  be  but  one  judgment  concerning  them.  In  other 
cases  Reason  is  not  driven  from  her  seat,  but  Distraction 
sits  down  upon  it  along  with  her,  holds  her  trembling  upon 
it,  and  frightens  her  from  her  propriety.  Such  patients  are 
victims  to  delusions  of  the  most  alarming  description,  which 
so  overpower  the  faculties,  and  usurp  so  firmly  the  power 
of  realities,  as  not  to  be  dislodged  and  shaken  by  the  organs 
of  perception  and  sense  :  in  such  cases  the  images  frequently 
vary,  but  in  the  same  subjects  are  generally  of  the  same 
terrific  character.  Delusion,  therefore,  when  there  is  no 
frenzy  or  raving  madness,  is  the  true  character  of  insanity  ; 
and  where  it  cannot  be  predicted  on  a  man  standing  for  life 
or  death  for  a  crime,  he  ought  not,  in  my  opinion,  to  be 
acquitted  ;  and  if  courts  of  law  were  to  be  governed  by 
any  other  principle,  every  departure  from  sober  rational 
conduct  would  be  an  emancipation  from  criminal  justice. 
I  shall  place  my  claim  to  your  verdict  upon  no  such  danger- 
ous foundation.  I  must  convince  you  not  only  that  the 
unhappy  prisoner  was  a  lunatic  within  my  own  definition 
of  lunacy,  but  that  the  act  in  question  was  the  IMMEDIATE 
UNQUALIFIED  OFFSPRING  OF  THE  DISEASE." 

Erskine  related,  in  the  course  of  his  speech,  an  extraordi- 
nary instance  of  monomania : 

"  A  man  of  the  name  of  Wood  had  indicted  Dr.  Monro, 
for  keeping  him  as  a  prisoner,  when  he  was  sane.  He  under- 
went a  most  severe  cross-examination  from  the  defendant's 
counsel  without  exposing  his  infirmity :  but  Dr.  Battye 
having  come  upon  the  bench  by  me,  and  having  desired 
me  to  ask  him  *  what  was  become  of  the  Princess  with  whom 
he  had  corresponded  in  cherry-juice,'  he  showed  in  a  moment 
what  he  was.  He  answered,  that  '  there  was  nothing  at  all 
in  that,  because  having  been  (as  everybody  knew)  impris- 
oned in  a  high  tower,  and  being  debarred  the  use  of  ink, 


234  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


he  had  no  other  means  of  correspondence  but  by  writing 
his  letters  in  cherry-juice,  and  throwing  them  into  the  river 
which  surrounded  the  tower,  where  the  Princess  received 
them  in  a  boat.'  There  existed  of  course  no  tower, 
no  imprisonment,  no  writing  in  cherry-juice,  no  river,  no 
boat,  no  princess, — but  the  whole  was  the  inveterate  phan- 
tom of  a  morbid  imagination.  I  immediately  directed  Dr. 
Monro  to  be  acquitted.  But  this  madman  again  indicted 
Dr.  Monro,  in  the  city  of  London,  through  a  part  of  which 
he  had  been  carried  to  his  place  of  confinement.  Knowing 
that  he  had  lost  his  cause  by  speaking  of  the  Princess,  at 
Westminster,  (such  is  the  wonderful  subtlety  of  madmen,) 
— when  he  was  cross-examined  on  the  trial  in  London,  as 
he  had  successfully  been  before,  in  order  to  expose  his  mad- 
ness, all  the  ingenuity  of  the  Bar,  and  all  the  authority  of 
the  Court,  could  not  make  him  say  a  single  syllable  upon 
that  topic  which  had  put  an  end  to  the  indictment  before, 
although  he  still  had  the  same  indelible  impression  upon 
his  mind,  as  he  signified  to  those  who  were  near  him  ;  but, 
conscious  that  the  delusion  had  caused  his  former  defeat, 
he  obstinately  persisted  in  holding  it  back.  His  evidence 
at  Westminster  was  then  proved  against  him  by  the  short- 
hand writer  ; — and  I  again  directed  an  acquittal." 

According  to  Lord  Campbell : 

"  Erskine  opened  in  the  following  affecting  words,  which 
are  said  to  have  drawn  tears  from  almost  all  present, — the 
evidence  he  was  to  give  of  a  recent  attempt  by  the  prisoner 
upon  the  life  of  a  child  whom  he  tenderly  loved  :  '  To 
proceed  to  the  proofs  of  his  insanity  down  to  the  very  pe- 
riod of  his  supposed  guilt :  This  unfortunate  man  before  you 
is  the  father  of  an  infant  of  eight  months,  and  I  have  no 
doubt  whatever  that,  if  the  boy  had  been  brought  into 
court  (but  this  is  a  grave  place  for  the  administration  of 
justice,  and  not  a  theatre  for  stage  effect), — I  say,  I  have  no 
doubt  whatever  that,  if  this  poor  infant  had  been  brought 
into  court,  you  would  have  seen  the  father  writhing  with  all 
the  emotions  of  parental  affection  ;  yet  upon  the  Tuesday 
preceding  the  Thursday  when  he  went  to  the  play-house, 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  235 


you  will  find  his  disease  still  urging  him  forward,  with  the 
impression  that  the  time  was  come  when  he  must  be 
destroyed  for  the  benefit  of  mankind  ;  and  in  the  confusion, 
or  rather  delirium,  of  this  wild  conception,  he  came  to  the 
bed  of  the  mother  who  had  this  infant  in  her  arms,  and, 
snatching  it  from  her,  was  about  to  dash  out  its  brains 
against  the  wall  in  her  presence  when  his  arm  was  arrested 
from  the  dreadful  attempt." 

Lord  Kenyon  stopped  the  trial  after  a  few  witnesses  had 
been  examined,  on  the  ground  that  a  case  of  insanity  had 
been  made  out  at  the  time  when  the  pistol  was  fired. 
Hadfield  was  sent  to  the  asylum,  where  he  remained  many 
years. 

The  author  has  said  nothing  of  Erskine's  career  as  a 
member  of  parliament,  nor  of  his  qualifications  for  the 
office  of  Lord  Chancellor,  neither  will  he  do  so,  for  the 
reason  that  he  was  not  distinguished  in  either  capacity. 
Erskine  was  returned  to  parliament  for  Portsmouth  in  1783, 
and  was  made  Lord  Chancellor  in  1806. 

Erskine  died  on  the  I7th  day  of  November,  1823. 

The  life  of  Lord  Erskine  should  exercise  a  salutary  influ- 
ence on  the  younger  members  of  the  legal  profession.  It 
should  constantly  remind  them  of  the  noble  objects  of  that 
noble  profession,  and  impress  indelibly  upon  their  minds 
the  great  truth,  that  its  highest  rewards  can  only  be  attained 
by  the  advocate  who  is  honest  and  strictly  faithful  to  the 
interests  of  clients  :  He  should  be,  as  Erskine  was,  imbued, 
deeply,  with  the  principles  of  patriotism  and  a  passionate 
love  of  his  highly  honourable  profession.  He  should  ever  be, 
too,  keenly  alive  to  human  suffering,  and  reflect  that  it  often 
becomes  his  duty  to  remember  the  forgotten,  to  attend  the 
neglected,  and  visit  the  forsaken. 

Lord  Campbell  says  of  Erskine  : 

"  Many  generations  may  pass  away  before  his  equal  is 
presented  to  the  admiration  of  mankind.  Of  course  I  do 
not  refer  to  his  qualifications  as  a  judge :  and  can  only  say 
of  him  as  a  politician,  that  he  was  ever  consistently  attached 
to  the  principles  of  freedom,  though  by  no  means  above  the 


236  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


prejudices  of  education  and  country.  As  a  parliamentary 
debater  he  was  greatly  inferior  to  several  of  his  contempo- 
raries ;  and  even  in  our  own  degenerate  age  we  could  out- 
match him.  But  as  an  advocate  in  the  forum,  I  hold  him 
to  be  without  an  equal  in  ancient  or  in  modern  times. 

"  Notwithstanding  the  flippant  observations  of  some  who 
can  write  and  speak  very  fine  sentences,  without  any -notion 
of  the  real  business  of  life,  and  who  pretend  to  despise  that 
for  which  they  themselves  would  have  been  found  utterly 
unfit,  I  boldly  affirm  that  there  is  no  department  of  human 
intellect  in  which  the  mensdivinior  may  be  more  refulgently 
displayed.  I  despise,  as  much  as  they  can  do,  the  man 
wearing  a  gown,  be  it  of  bombasin  or  of  silk,  who  is  merely 
' prceco  actionum,  cantor  formularum,  auceps  syllabarum} — or 
who  sordidly  thinks  only  of  amassing  money,  and  regulates 
his  attendance  and  his  exertions  according  to  the  fee  marked 
on  his  brief.  But  let  us  imagine  to  ourselves  an  advocate 
inspired  by  a  generous  love  of  fame,  and  desirous  of  hon- 
ourably assisting  in  the  administration  of  justice,  by  obtain- 
ing redress  for  the  injured  and  defending  the  innocent, — who 
has  liberally  studied  the  science  of  jurisprudence,  and  has 
stored  his  mind,  and  refined  his  taste,  by  a  general  acquaint- 
ance with  elegant  literature, — who  has  an  intuitive  insight 
into  human  character  and  the  workings  of  human  passion, — 
who  possesses  discretion  as  well  as  courage,  and  caution 
along  with  enthusiasm, — who  is  not  only  able  by  his  powers 
of  persuasion  to  give  the  best  chance  of  success  to  every 
client  whom  he  represents  in  every  variety  of  private  causes, 
but  who  is  able  to  defeat  conspiracies  against  public  liberty, 
to  be  carried  into  effect  by  a  perversion  of  the  criminal  law, 
— and  who,  by  the  victories  which  he  gains,  and  the  princi- 
ples which  he  establishes,  places  the  free  constitution  of  his 
country  on  an  imperishable  basis  !  Such  an  advocate  was 
Erskine  ;  and  although  he  did  creditably  maintain  his  family 
by  professional  Jionoraries  voluntarily  presented  to  him,  he 
was  careless  as  to  their  amount,  and  he  was  ready  on  every 
proper  occasion  to  exert  his  best  energies  without  any 
reward  beyond  the  consciousness  of  doing  his  duty.  Such 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  ENGLAND. 

an  advocate,  in  my  opinion,  stands  quite  as  high  in  the 
scale  of  true  greatness  as  the  parliamentary  leader  who  ably 
opens  a  budget,  who  lucidly  explains  a  new  system  of  com- 
mercial policy,  or  who  dexterously  attacks  the  measures  of 
the  government.  Certainly  different  qualities  of  mind  as 
well  as  different  acquirements  are  demanded  for  these  two 
kinds  of  eloquence ;  and  it  may  be  admitted  that  in  senato- 
rial deliberations  there  is  a  greater  scope  for  an  enlarged 
view  of  human  affairs,  and  that  there  only  can  be  discussed 
the  relative  rights,  duties,  and  interests  of  nations.  But  the 
forensic  proceeding,  though  between  private  parties,  or 
between  the  state  and  individual  citizens,  and  though  con- 
fined to  a  comparatively  narrow  field  of  investigation  and  of 
argument,  has  great  advantages,  from  the  intense  and  con- 
tinued interest  which  it  excites, — for,  like  a  grand  drama,  it 
has  often  a  well-involved  plot,  and  a  catastrophe  which  can- 
not be  anticipated,  rousing  all  the  most  powerful  sympathies 
of  our  nature, — and  sometimes,  as  on  the  impeachment  of 
Lord  Strafford,  or  the  Treason  Trials  of  1794,  the  fate  of 
the  empire  may  depend  upon  the  verdict.  Look  to  the 
recorded  efforts  of  genius  in  both  departments.  I  will  not 
here  enter  into  a  comparison  of  the  respective  merits  of  the 
different  sorts  of  oratory  handed  down  to  us  from  antiquity, 
but  I  may  be  allowed  to  observe  that,  among  ourselves,  in 
the  hundred  and  fifty  volumes  of  Hansard,  there  are  no 
specimens  of  parliamentary  harangues  which  as  literary  com- 
positions are  comparable  to  the  speeches  of  Erskine  at  the 
bar,  with  the  exception  of  Burke's, — and  they  were  delivered 
to  empty  benches.  Do  not,  therefore,  let  it  be  assumed  that 
Erskine  is  degraded  into  an  inferior  class  of  artists  because 
he  was  not  a  skilful  debater.  He  no  doubt  would  have 
been  a  yet  more  wonderful  creature  if  he  had  been  as  great 
in  the  senate  as  in  the  forum  ;  but  we  should  recollect  that 
in  the  department  of  eloquence  in  which  he  did  shine,  he  is 
allowed  to  have  excelled,  not  only  all  his  contemporaries, 
but  all  who  have  attempted  it  in  this  island,  either  in  prior 
or  in  subsequent  times, — while  mankind  are  greatly  divided 
as  to  the  individual  to  whom  the  palm  of  parliamentary  elo- 


238  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


quence  should  be  awarded  ; — and  there  will  again  probably  be 
a  debater  equal  to  Pitt  the  father,  Pitt  the  son,  Fox,  Sheridan, 
Burke,  or  Grey,  before  there  arises  an  advocate  equal  to 
Erskine. 

"  Some  have  denied  the  possibility  of  his  great  pre- 
eminence, on  account  of  his  limited  stock  of  general 
knowledge,  but,  although  much  culture  is  indispensable  to 
the  development  of  the  intellectual  powers,  and  to  the 
refinement  of  taste,  this  culture  may  be  applied,  without 
the  knowledge  of  a  great  variety  of  languages,  and  without 
any  deep  insight  into  science.  No  Greek  knew  any  lan- 
guage but  that  which  he  learned  from  his  nurse  ;  and  Shakes- 
peare could  not  have  gone  through  an  examination  as  hard 
as  that  of  many  modern  parish  schools.  Far  be  it  from 
me  to  discourage  the  acquisiton  of  classical  and  scientific 
lore  :  this  is  delightful  in  itself,  and  it  gives  the  best  chance 
of  success  in  every  liberal  pursuit ;  but  where  true  genius 
exists,  it  may  be  brought  into  full  operation  and  efficiency 
by  suitable  discipline  within  very  narrow  limits  ;  and  a  man 
may  be  superior  to  all  others  in  his  art,  and  be  ignorant  of 
many  things  which  it  is  disgraceful  to  the  common  herd  of 
mortals  not  to  know.  Let  it  not  be  said,  therefore,  that 
Erskine  could  not,  better  than  any  other  man,  lead  the 
understandings  and  control  the  passions  of  his  audience 
when  arguing  a  point  of  constitutional  law,  or  appealing  to 
the  affections  of  domestic  life,  because  he  talked  nonsense  if 
he  indiscreetly  offered  an  opinion  upon  a  question  of  prosody 
or  of  political  economy.  His  moderate  acquaintance  with 
the  Latin  poets,  and  his  intense  and  unremitting  study  of 
the  best  English  writers,  both  in  prose  and  verse,  had  taught 
him  to  think,  and  had  supplied  him  with  a  correct,  chaste, 
forcible,  and  musical  diction,  in  which  to  express  his 
thoughts.  Although,  judged  by  his  common  conversation, 
he  was  sometimes  very  lightly  esteemed, — listen  to  his  dis- 
courses when  he  is  rescuing  from  destruction  the  intended 
victim  of  arbitrary  government,  or  painting  the  anguish  of 
an  injured  husband,  and  he  appears  to  breathe  celestial  fire. 

"  In  considering  the  characteristics  of  his  eloquence,  it  is 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  239 


observable  that  he  not  only  was  free  from  measured  senten- 
tiousness  and  tiresome  attempts  at  antithesis,  but  that  he 
was  not  indebted  for  his  success  to  riches  of  ornament,  to 
felicity  of  illustration,  to  wit,  to  humour,  or  to  sarcasm.  His 
first  great  excellence  was  his  devotion  to  his  client,  and  in 
the  whole  compass  of  his  orations,  there  is  not  a  single 
instance  of  the  business  in  hand — the  great  work  of  per- 
suading— being  sacrificed  to  raise  a  laugh  or  to  excite  admi- 
ration of  his  own  powers.  He  utterly  forgot  himself  in 
the  character  he  represented.  Through  life  he  was  often 
ridiculed  for  vanity  and  egotism, — but  not  for  anything  he 
ever  said,  or  did,  in  conducting  a  cause  in  a  court  of  justice. 
There,  from  the  moment  the  jury  were  sworn,  he  thought  of 
nothing  but  the  verdict,  till  it  was  recorded  in  his  favour. 
Earnestness  and  energy  were  ever  present  throughout  his 
speeches — impressing  his  argument  on  the  mind  of  his 
hearer  with  a  force  which  seemed  to  compel  conviction.  He 
never  spoke  at  a  tiresome  length  ;  and  throughout  all  his 
speeches  no  weakness,  no  dulness,  no  flagging  is  discovera- 
ble ;  and  we  have  ever  a  lively  statement  of  facts, — or  rea- 
soning pointed,  logical,  and  triumphant. 

"  I  think  I  ought  particularly  to  mention  the  familiar  knowl- 
edge he  displays  of  the  most  secret  workings  of  the  human 
mind.  How  finely  he  paints  the  peril  arising  from  the  per- 
version of  what  is  good !  '  Some  of  the  darkest  and  most 
dangerous  prejudices  of  men  arise  from  the  most  honoura- 
ble principles.  When  prejudices  are  .caught  up  from  bad 
passions,  the  worst  of  men  feel  intervals  of  remorse  to  soften 
and  disperse  them ;  but  when  they  arise  from  a  generous 
though  mistaken  source,  they  are  hugged  closer  to  the  bo- 
som, and  the  kindest  and  most  compassionate  natures  feel 
a  pleasure  in  fostering  a  blind  and  unjust  resentment.'  He 
spoke  as  his  clients  respectively  would  have  spoken,  being 
endowed  with  his  genius.  '  The  dervise  in  the  fairy  tale, 
who  possessed  the  faculty  of  passing  his  own  soul  into  the 
body  of  any  whom  he  might  select,  could  scarcely  surpass 
Erskine  in  the  power  of  impersonating  for  a  time  the  feel- 
ings, wishes,  and  thoughts  of  others.' 


240  HISTORY    OF  ORATORY. 


"  I  must  likewise  mention  the  delight  I  feel  from  the  ex- 
quisite sweetness  of  his  diction,  which  is  pure,  simple,  and 
mellifluous, — the  cadences  not  being  borrowed  from  any 
model,  nor  following  any  rule,  but  marked  by  constant  har- 
mony and  variety.  The  rhythm  of  the  Indian  Chief  is,  I 
think,  more  varied,  richer,  and  more  perfect  than  that  of 
any  passage  from  any  other  composition  in  our  language. 

"  When  the  great  Lord  Chatham  was  to  appear  in  public, 
he  took  much  pains  about  his  dress,  and  latterly  he  arranged 
his  flannels  in  graceful  folds.  It  need  not  then  detract  from 
our  respect  for  Erskine,  that  on  all  occasions  he  desired  to 
look  smart,  and  that  when  he  went  down  into  the  country 
on  special  retainers  he  anxiously  had  recourse  to  all  manner 
of  innocent  little  artifices  to  aid  his  purposes.  He  examined 
the  court  the  night  before  the  trial,  in  order  to  select  the 
more  advantageous  place  for  addressing  the  jury.  On  the 
cause  being  called,  the  crowded  audience  were  perhaps  kept 
waiting  a  few  minutes  before  the  celebrated  stranger  made 
his  appearance  ;  and  when,  at  length,  he  gratified  their  im- 
patient curiosity,  a  particularly  nice  wig  and  a  pair  of  new 
yellow  gloves  distinguished  and  embellished  his  person 
beyond  the  ordinary  costume  of  the  barristers  of  the  circuit. 

"  It  may  be  more  useful  to  hold  up  for  imitation  his  admira- 
ble demeanour  while  engaged  in  business  at  the  bar, — to 
which,  perhaps,  his  success  was  not  less  due  than  to  his  tal- 
ents. Respectful  to  the  judges,  although  ever  ready  to  assert 
his  independence, — cqurteous  to  the  jury,  while  he  boldly 
reminded  them  of  their  duties, — free  from  asperity  towards 
his  opponents, — constantly  kind  and  considerate  to  his 
juniors, — treating  the  witnesses  as  persons,  generally  speak- 
ing, reluctantly  attending  to  assist  in  the  investigation  of 
truth, — looking  benevolently  even  on  the  circumstances,  and 
glad  when  he  could  accommodate  them  with  a  seat, — of  a 
gay  and  happy  temperament,  enjoying  uninterruptedly  a 
boyish  flow  of  animal-  spirits,  and  enlivening  the  dullest 
cause  with  his  hilarity  and  good-humour, — he  was  a  univer- 
sal favourite — there  was  a  general  desire,  as  far  as  law  and 
justice  would  permit,  that  he  should  succeed,  and  the  pres- 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  ENGLAND.  2\l 


tige  of  his  reputation  was  considered  the  sure  forerunner  of 
victory.  I  have  myself  witnessed,  from  the  student's  box, 
towards  the  conclusion  of  his  career  at  the  bar,  his  daily- 
skirmishes  and  triumphs;  but  it  is  vain  to  try  by  words  to 
convey  to  others  an  idea  of  the  qualities  which  he  displayed, 
or  the  effect  which  he  produced." 

In  justice  to  the  reader,  the  writer  thinks  it  incumbent  on 
him  to  give  other  estimates  of  Erskine's  eloquence  and  pro- 
fessional qualifications,  some  of  which  are  not  so  flattering 
as  Lord  Campbell's.  The  magic  of  his  eloquence  cannot  be 
appreciated  by  those  who  merely  read  his  speeches.  It  is 
said  that  those  who  saw  and  heard  him  were  not  at  a  loss  to 
account  for  the  rapidity  of  his  success. 

Lord  Brougham,  an  excellent  judge  of  eloquence,  and 
himself  one  of  the  most  eloquent  men  of  his  day  in  the 
senate  and  the  forum,  paid  the  following  just  tribute  to 
Erskine : 

"  Nor  let  it  be  deemed  trivial,  or  beneath  the  historian's 
province,  to  mark  that  noble  figure,  every  look  of  whose 
countenance  is  expressive,  every  motion  of  whose  form  grace- 
ful, an  eye  that  sparkles,  and  pierces,  and  almost  assures 
victory,  while  it  speaks  audience  ere  the  tongue.  Juries 
have  declared  that  they  felt  it  impossible  to  remove  their 
looks  from  him,  when  he  had  riveted  and,  as  it  were,  fasci- 
nated them  by  his  first  glance  ;  and  it  used  to  be  a  common 
remark  among  men,  who  observed  his  motions,  that  they  re- 
sembled those  of  a  blood  horse,  as  light,  as  limber,  as  much 
betokening  strength  and  speed,  as  free  from  all  gross  super- 
fluity or  incumbrance.  Then  hear  his  voice  of  surpassing 
sweetness,  clear,  flexible,  strong,  exquisitely  fitted  to  strains 
of  serious  earnestness,  deficient  in  compass  indeed,  and  much 
less  fitted  to  express  indignation,  or  even  scorn,  than  pathos, 
but  wholly  free  from  harshness  or  monotony.  All  these, 
however,  and  even  his  chaste,  dignified,  and  appropriate 
action,  were  very  small  parts  of  this  wonderful  advocate's 
excellence.  He  had  a  thorough  knowledge  of  men,  of  their 
passions,  and  their  feelings — he  knew  every  avenue  to  the 

heart,  and  could  at  will  make  all  its  chords  vibrate  to  his 

16 


242  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


touch.  His  fancy,  though  never  playful  in  public,  where  he 
had  his  whole  faculties  under  the  most  severe  control,  was 
•lively  and  brilliant  ;  when  he  gave  it  vent  and  scope  it  was  emi- 
nently sportive,  but  while  representing  his  client  it  was  wholly 
subservient  to  that,  in  which  his  whole  soul  was  wrapped  up, 
and  to  which  each  faculty  of  body  and  of  mind  was  subdued 
— the  success  of  the  cause.  His  argumentative  powers  were 
of  the  highest  order,  clear  in  his  statements,  close  in  his  ap- 
plications, unwearied,  and  never  to  be  diverted  in  his  deduc- 
tions, with  a  quick  and  sure  perception  of  his  point,  and 
undeviating  in  the  pursuit  of  whatever  established  it ;  endued 
with  a  nice  discernment  of  the  relative  importance  and  weight 
of  different  arguments,  and  the  faculty  of  assigning  to  each 
its  proper  place,  so  as  to  bring  forward  the  main  body  of  the 
reasoning  in  bold  relief,  and  with  its  full  breadth,  and  not 
weaken  its  effects  by  distracting  and  disturbing  the  attention 
of  the  audience  among  lesser  particulars.  His  understand- 
ing was  eminently  legal,  though  he  had  never  made  himself 
a  great  lawyer,  yet  he  could  deliver  a  purely  legal  argument 
with  the  most  perfect  success,  and  his  familiarity  with  all  the 
ordinary  matters  of  his  profession  was  abundantly  sufficient 
for  the  purposes  of  the  forum.  His  memory  was  accurate, 
and  retentive  in  an  extraordinary  degree,  nor  did  he  ever 
during  the  trial  of  a  cause  forget  any  matter,  how  trifling 
soever,  that  belonged  to  it.  His  presence  of  mind  was  per- 
fect in  action,  that  is,  before  the  jury,  when  a  line  is  to  be 
taken  in  the  instant  and  a  question  risked  to  a  witness,  or  a 
topic  chosen  with  the  tribunal,  on  which  the  whole  fate  of 
the  cause  may  turn.  No  man  made  fewer  mistakes,  none 
left  so  few  advantages  unimproved  ;  before  none  was  it  so 
dangerous  for  an  adversary  to  slumber  and  be  off  his  guard, 
for  he  was  ever  broad  awake  himself,  and  was  as  adventurous 
as  he  was  skilful,  and  as  apt  to  take  advantage  of  any  the 
least  opening,  as  he  was  cautious  to  leave  none  in  his  own 
battle.  But  to  all  these  qualities  he  joined  that  fire,  that 
spirit,  that  courage,  which  gave  vigour  and  direction  to  the 
whole,  and  bore  down  all  resistance.  No  man,  with  all  his 
address  and  prudence,  ever  ventured  upon  more  bold  figures, 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  243 


and  they  were  uniformly  successful,  for  his  imagination  was 
vigorous  enough  to  sustain  any  flight ;  his  taste  was  correct, 
and  even  severe,  and  his  execution  felicitous  in  the  highest 
degree." 

"  Adequately  to  estimate  what  Erskine  was  at  this  period/* 
says  a  brother  barrister,  "  we  must  forget  all  that  the  Eng- 
lish bar  has  produced  after  him.  They  will  afford  no  criterion 
by  which  he  can  be  appreciated.  They  are  all  of  inferior 
clay,  the  mere  sweepings  of  the  hall  in  comparison.  Nor  is 
it  easy  to  form  any  tolerable  idea  of  him,  but  by  having  seen 
him  from  day  to  day,  from  year  to  year,  in  the  prime  and 
manhood  of  his  intellect,  running  with  graceful  facility 
through  the  chaos  of  briefs  before  him  ;  it  is  only  by  that 
personal  experience  that  it  is  possible  to  form  any  notion  of 
the  admirable  versatility  with  which  he  glided  from  one  cause 
to  another,  the  irony,  the  humour,  the  good  nature  with 
which  he  laughed  down  the  adverse  cause,  and  the  vehemence 
and  spirit  with  which  he  sustained  his  own." 

"  I  never  saw  him  grave,"  is  the  testimony  of  Espinasse, 
"  but  with  a  constant  flow  of  animal  spirits  he  enlivened 
those  who  surrounded  him  with  whimsical  conceits  and  jokes 
on  what  was  passing.  I  had  a  full  share  of  his  jeux  (T  esprit, 
as  my  place  in  court  was  directly  at  his  back."  Erskine  ob- 
served, how  much  confidence  in  speaking  was  acquired  from 
habit  and  frequent  employment.  "  I  don't  find  it  so,"  said 
Lamb,  who  happened  to  be  present  on  one  occasion,  "  for 
though  I  have  a  good  share  of  business,  I  don't  find  my 
confidence  increased  ;  rather  the  contrary."  "  Why,"  replied 
Erskine,  "  it  is  nothing  wonderful  that  a  Lamb  should  grow 
sheepish." 

Erskine  loved  to  play  occasionally  with  the  partialities  of 
Lord  Kenyon.  It  is  said  that  when  a  question  of  law  was 
started  at  a  trial,  the  Chief-Justice  pricked  up  his  ears,  and 
prepared  his  note-book  to  take  down  the  point  with  great 
formality.  In  an  action  for  assault,  which  was  tried  before 
him  at  Guildhall,  the  plaintiff,  a  giant  in  size  and  physical 
strength,  kept  a  house  of  some  notoriety,  called  "  The  Cock," 
at  Temple  Bar.  The  house  was  much  frequented  by  country 


244  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


attorneys.  It  seems  from  the  evidence  that  "  a  spruce  little 
member  of  that  profession  came  into  the  public  room  one 
evening,  booted  and  spurred  as  if  just  off  a  journey.  He 
took  his  seat  in  a  box,  but  soon  became  so  noisy  and  trouble- 
some that  the  other  guests  wished  to  have  him  turned  out, 
and  called  on  the  landlord  to  do  so.  The  lawyer  demurred, 
and  when  pressed,  assumed  an  attitude  of  defence.  The 
landlord,  acting  under  the  authority  of  a  habeas  corpus  of 
his  own  issuing,  took  possession  of  the  person  of  his  puny 
antagonist,  by  catching  the  little  man  up  in  his  arms,  and 
bearing  him  in  triumph  towards  the  door.  The  publican's 
embrace,  which  resembled  the  friendly  hug  of  a  bear,  roused 
all  the  indignant  energies  of  the  lawyer ;  and  being  furnished 
with  no  weapons  of  defence  except  his  spurs,  he  sprawled, 
kicked,  and  spurred  so  violently  that  the  knees  and  shins  of 
the  host  of  The  Cock  were  covered  with  blood.  For  this 
assault  the  action  was  brought,  and  the  defendant  pleaded 
that  plaintiff  hacl  made  the  first  assault  on  him,  by  forcibly 
taking  him  in  his  arms  and  turning  him  out  of  doors. 
Erskine  defended  him  :  he  described  the  combat  in  the  most 
ludicrous  terms,  and,  with  assumed  gravity,  appealed  to  the 
jury  if  instinct  had  not  pointed  out  to  every  animal  the  best 
means  of  its  defence  ;  that  his  client  had  no  weapon  of  any 
sort  to  oppose  to  the  violence  of  the  plaintiff,  except  his  spurs, 
which  he  had  therefore  lawfully  used  for  self-defence.  The 
turn  which  Erskine's  manner  of  treating  it  gave  to  the  case, 
caused  much  laughter  in  the  court,  and  he  was  not  disposed 
to  stop  it.  To  the  law  cited  on  the  other  side,  he  said  he 
would  oppose  a  decisive  authority  from  a  book  of  long  stand- 
ing, and  entitled  to  the  highest  credit.  Lord  Kenyon, 
expecting  that  some  text  book  or  reporter  was  going  to  be 
cited,  took  up  his  pen,  and  put  himself  into  the  attitude  for 
taking  down  the  point.  '  From  what  authority,  Mr. 
Erskine?'  said  the  Chief-Justice.  *  From  Gulliver's  Travels, 
my  lord,'  was  the  reply.  The  whimsical  contrast  in  appear- 
ance of  plaintiff  and  defendant  then  on  the  floor  presented 
the  burlesque  representation  of  Gulliver  dandling  in  the 
arms  of  his  Brobdignag  friend.  No  other  barrister  would 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  ENGLAND.  24$ 


have  ventured  to  trifle  so  far  with  the  gravity  of  the  Chief ; 
but  he  knew  that  his  anger  was  sheathed  against  himself, 
and  that  if  he  did  shake  the  head  reproachfully,  it  was  in 
good-humour  at  the  jest.  The  licensed  joker  of  the  court, 
the  petted  school-boy  of  the  robing-room,  the  gay  oracle  of 
consultation, — he  would  follow  his  whim  further  than  barris- 
ters in  general  feel  inclined  to  pursue  it,  and  would  sport 
with  that  privileged  class,  the  attornies.  He  was  aware  that 
they  could  not  dispense  with  his  talents  of  advocacy,  and 
that  whether  offended  with  his  witticisms  or  not,  the  princi- 
pal anxiety  of  each  on  the  morrow  would  be,  who  should  be 
first  with  his  retainer." 

"  He  attached  too  little  consequence,"  says  Espinasse, 
"  to  consultations  :  he  relied  solely  on  himself.  As  they 
always  took  place  in  the  evening,  and  his  return  from 
court  had  not  many  hours  preceded  them,  he  had  very 
rarely  read  his  brief,  but  reserved  it  for  perusal  at  an  early 
hour  in  the  morning.  He  therefore  sought  to  relieve  his 
mind  from  the  fatigues  of  the  day  by  unbending  it  in  con- 
versation, or  diverting  it  to  something  which  amused  him, 
but  which  required  little  thought.  I  have  often  observed 
the  disappointment  of  his  clients,  who  attended  his  consul- 
tations, expecting  to  hear  their  cases  canvassed  with  some 
degree  of  solemnity  and  attention,  to  find  that  he  had  not 
read  a  line  of  his  brief,  but  amused  himself  with  talking 
upon  subjects  either  trifling  or  wholly  unconnected  with 
them.  I  recollect  accompaning  a  client  to  a  consultation  at 
his  house  in  Serjeants'  Inn.  We  found  on  the  table  thirty 
or  forty  phial  bottles,  in  each  of  which  was  stuck  a  cutting 
of  geranium  of  different  kinds.  Our  client  was  all  anxiety 
for  the  appearance  of  Erskine,  and  full  of  impatience  for  the 
commencement  of  the  consultation,  sure  that  he  should 
hear  the  merits  of  his  case  and  the  objections  to  it  accurately 
gone  into,  and  the  law  of  it  canvassed  and  well  considered. 
When  Erskine  entered  the  room,  what  was  his  disappoint- 
ment at  hearing  the  first  words  which  he  uttered !  Erskine 
— '  Do  you  know  how  many  kinds  of  geraniums  there  are  ? ' 
*  Not  I,  truly,'  was  my  reply.  '  There  are  above  one  hun- 


246  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


dred,'  he  said.  He  then  proceeded  with  a  detail  and  de- 
scription of  the  different  sorts,  and  indulged  in  a  discussion 
of  their  relative  beauties  and  merits.  This  lecture  on 
geraniums  evidently  disconcerted  our  client.  He  listened 
with  patient  anxiety  till  he  had  finished,  hoping  then  to  hear 
something  about  his  cause,  when  he  heard  him  conclude. 
Erskine — *  Now  state  the  case,  as  I  have  had  no  time  to 
read  my  brief.'  With  my  statement  of  it  the  consultation 
ended.  But  our  client's  disappointment  of  the  evening  he 
found  amply  compensated  by  Erskine's  exertions  on  the 
following  morning,  when  he  heard  every  point  of  his  case 
put  with  accuracy  and  enforced  with  eloquence.  To  his 
consultations,  in  fact,  no  feature  of  deliberation  belonged. 
If  in  the  course  of  them  any  thought  struck  him,  he 
did  not  reserve  the  communication  of  it  for  a  more  fit 
occasion,  but  uttered  it  as  it  occurred,  though  it  broke  in  on 
the  subject  under  discussion,  and  was  wholly  foreign  to  and 
unconnected  with  it."  "  At  a  consultation,  in  which  I  was 
junior,"  says  the  same  writer,  "  Christie,  the  auctioneer  at- 
tended to  give  some  information.  In  the  middle  of  it  Erskine 
exclaimed,  '  Christie,  I  want  a  house  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Ramsgate,  have  you  got  such  a  one  to  dispose  of  ? ' 
*  What  kind  of  a  house  do  you  want  ?  '  inquired  the  auctioneer. 
Erskine  described  it.  '  I  have  '  said  Christie,  '  the  very  thing 
that  will  suit  you,  and  what  is  more,  I  '11  put  you  into  it  as 
Adam  was  put  into  Paradise,  in  a  state  of  perfection.' 
These  playful  humours  the  fortunate  lawyer  would  sometimes 
carry  to  an  excess,  bordering  on  burlesque.  He  had  a  large 
and  favourite  dog,  called  Toss,  which  he  had  taught  to  sit 
upon  a  chair  with  his  paws  placed  before  him  on  the  table. 
In  that  posture  he  would  put  an  open  book  before  it,  with 
one  paw  placed  on  each  side,  and  one  of  his  bands  tied  round 
his  neck.  This  ludicrous  exhibition  was  presented  to  his 
clients,  who  came  to  attend  to  his  consultations.  No  one 
would  have  ventured  on  such  a  childish  experiment,  but  one 
who  felt  that  the  indulgence  of  a  trifling  whim  did  not  de- 
tract from  the  dignity  of  his  professional  character,  and  with 
the  perfect  assurance  of  a  superior  mind,  that  his  clients 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  247 


could  find  no  equal  to  him  at  the  bar,  or  in  fact  do  without 
him." 

The  auctioneering  flourishes  of  this  Christie,  so  "  child-like 
and  bland,"  in  his  manner  to  confiding  purchasers  enabled 
Erskine  a  favourable  opportunity  for  obtaining  verdict  for  his 
client  by  dint  of  laughter  from  the  jury.  He  was  conducting 
a  case  for  the  plaintiff  in  action  to  recover  the  deposit 
money  for  an  estate  which  his  client  had  foolishly  purchased 
on  Christie's  representation  of  its  beauties.  According  to 
the  enchanting  description  given  by  Christie,  the  house 
commanded  an  extensive  and  beautiful  lawn,  with  a  distant 
prospect  of  the  Needles,  and  as  having  amongst  its  numer- 
ous conveniences  an  excellent  billiard-room.  "  To  show 
you,  gentlemen,"  said  Erskine,  "  how  egregiously  my  client 
has  been  deceived  by  the  defendant's  rhetoric,  I  will  tell  you 
what  this  exquisite  and  enchanting  place  actually  turned  out 
to  be,  when  my  client,  who  had  paid  the  deposit  on  the  faith 
of  Mr.  Christie's  advertisement,  went  down  in  the  fond 
anticipations  of  his  heart  to  this  earthly  paradise.  When  he 
got  there,  nothing  was  found  to  correspond  to  what  he  had 
too  unwarily  expected.  There  was  a  house  to  be  sure,  and 
that  is  all — for  it  was  nodding  to  its  fall,  and  the  very  rats 
instinctively  had  quitted  it.  It  stood,  it  is  true,  in  a  com- 
manding situation,  for  it  commanded  all  the  winds  and  rains 
of  heaven.  As  for  lawn,  he  could  find  nothing  that  deserved 
the  name,  unless  it  was  a  small  yard,  in  which,  with  some 
contrivance,  a  washerwoman  might  hang  half  a  dozen  shirts. 
There  was,  however,  a  dirty  lane  that  ran  close  to  it ;  and 
perhaps  Mr.  Christie  may  contend  that  it  was  an  error  of  the 
press,  and  therefore,  for  '  lawn,'  we  must  read  *  lane.' 
But  where  is  the  billiard  room  ?  exclaimed  the  plaintiff,  in 
the  agony  of  disappointment.  At  last  he  was  conducted  to 
a  room  in  the  attic,  the  ceiling  of  which  was  so  low  that  a  man 
could  not  stand  upright  in  it,  and  therefore  must,  perforce, 
put  himself  into  the  posture  of  a  billiard  player.  Seeing  this, 
Mr.  Christie,  by  the  magic  of  his  eloquence,  converted  the 
place  into  a  'billiard  room.'  But  the  fine  view  of  the  Nee- 
dles, gentlemen  ;  where  was  it  ?  No  such  thing  was  to  be 


248  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


seen,  and  my  poor  client  might  as  well  have  looked  for  a 
needle  in  a  bottle  of  hay !  " 

From  the  preceding  anecdotes  and  those  which  are  to 
follow  it  must  not  be  thought  that  Erskine's  occasional  lev- 
ity was  disadvantageous  to  his  client,  or  that  he  was  lacking- 
in  earnestness  of  purpose.  He  said  on  one  occasion,  on  the 
opening  of  the  court,  that  he  would  do  his  duty,  as  if  all  the 
angels  in  heaven  were  taking  notes  of  whatever  passed 
through  his  mind  on  the  subject. 

If  Justice  Ashurst,  long,  lean,  and  lank  as  he  was,  had  lived 
in  the  days  of  Cervantes,  he  would  have  made  an  excellent 
model  for  a  pen  picture  of  Don  Quixote.  On  the  visage  of 
the  Justice  before  whom  he  daily  practised,  he  penned  the 
following  couplet : 

"  Judge  Ashurst,  with  his  lantern  jaws, 
Throws  light  upon  the  English  laws.  " 

He  had  a  kindness  for  Park,  one  of  his  countrymen,  who 
afterwards  became  a  judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas 
but  quizzed  him  occasionally,  and  he  wrote  upon  him  the 
following  lines : 

"  James  Allen  Park 
Came  naked  stark 

From  Scotland  ; 
But  now  wears  clo'es, 
And  lives  with  beaux 

In  England." 

Lord  Campbell  says,  of  his  skill  in  examining  witnesses : 
"  In  describing  his  professional  merits,  I  ought  by  no  means 
to  omit  his  skill  in  examining  witnesses,  upon  which  the 
event  of  a  cause  often  depends,  much  more  than  upon  fine 
speaking.  When  he  had  to  examine  in  chief, — not,  as  in 
common  fashion,  following  the  order  of  the  proofs  as  set 
down  in  the  brief, — seemingly  without  art  or  effort,  he  made 
the  witness  lucidly  relate,  so  as  to  interest  and  captivate  the 
jury,  all  the  facts  that  were  favorable  to  his  client.  In  cross- 
examination  he  could  be  most  searching  and  severe  ;  but  he 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  249 


never  resorted  to  brow-beating,  nor  was  gratuitously  rude. 
Often  he  carried  his  point  by  coaxing,  and  when  the  evi- 
dence could  not  be  contradicted,  he  would  try  by  pleasantry 
to  lessen  the  effect  of  it.  Having  to  cross-examine  a  cox- 
combical fellow,  belonging  to  the  self-important  class  of  per- 
sons sent  by  the  wholesale  houses  in  London  to  scour  the 
country  for  orders, — formerly  called  '  Riders/  now  styling 
themselves  *  Travellers,' — he  began,  '  You  are  a  Rider,  I 
understand  ? '  'A  Traveller,  sir/  was  the  answer.  '  I 
might  have  discovered/  replied  Erskine,  '  that  you  consid- 
ered yourself  licensed  to  use  all  the  privileges  of  a  Trav- 
eller? Another  of  the  fraternity  having  long  baffled  him, 
he  suddenly  remarked,  *  You  were  born  and  bred  in  Man- 
chester, I  perceive  ?  '  The  witness  said  he  could  not  deny 
it.  *  I  knew  it/  said  Erskine,  carelessly,  '  from  the  absurd 
tie  of  your  neckcloth.'  The  travelling  dandy's  weak  point 
was  touched  ;  for  he  had  been  dressing  after  Beau  Brummel ; 
and,  his  presence  of  mind  being  gone,  he  was  made  to  unsay 
the  greatest  part  of  his  evidence  in  chief.  On  the  trial  of  an 
action  to  recover  the  value  of  a  quantity  of  whalebone,  the 
defence  turning  on  the  quality  of  the  article,  a  witness  was 
called,  of  impenetrable  stupidity,  who  could  not  be  made  to 
distinguish  between  the  two  well-known  descriptions  of  this 
commodity — the  '  long  '  and  the  '  thick.'  Still  confound- 
ing thick  whalebone  with  long,  Erskine  exclaimed,  in  seem- 
ing despair,  *  Why,  man,  you  do  not  seem  to  know  the 
difference  between  what  is  thick  and  what  \s  long\  Now  I 
tell  you  the  difference.  You  are  M^-headed,  and  you  are 
not  /0^-headed.'  I  myself  remember,  when  a  student, 
being  present  when  he  was  counsel  for  the  plaintiff  in  an 
action  on  a  tailor's  bill, — the  defence  being,  that  the  clothes 
were  very  ill-made,  and,  particularly,  that  the  two  sleeves  of 
a  dress-coat  were  of  unequal  length.  The  defendant's  wit- 
ness accordingly  swore,  that  '  one  of  them  was  longer  than 
the  other  ' ;  upon  which  Erskine  thus  began  :  '  Now,  sir,  will 
you  swear  that  one  of  them  was  not  shorter  than  the  other. 
The  witness  negativing  this  proposition,  after  an  amusing 
reply  the  plaintiff  had  the  verdict. — The  more  difficult  and 


250  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


delicate  task  of  re-examination  he  was  in  the  habit  of 
performing  with  equal  dexterity, — not  attempting  clumsily 
to  go  over  the  same  ground  which  he  had  before  trod,  but, 
by  a  few  questions  which  strictly  arose  out  of  the  cross- 
examination,  restoring  the  credit  of  his  witness,  and 
tying  together  the  broken  threads  of  his  case." 

The  professional  life  of  Lord  Erskine  is  useful  as  an  ex- 
ample to,  and  worthy  of  imitation  by,  every  lawyer.  The 
undaunted  and  repeated  refusal  of  Erskine  to  discontinue 
an  address  he  felt  it  his  duty  to  make,  when  haughtily 
and  imperiously  told  by  a  tyrannical  judge  to  sit  down, 
the  author  hopes  will  never  be  forgotten.  His  conduct 
on  that  occasion  has  been  commended  by  scores  of  the 
ablest  lawyers  of  England  and  America.  The  bench  has 
no  right  to  overshadow  the  bar,  and  to  expect  servility 
and  meanness  from  its  members.  The  bar  has  rights  which 
it  has  always  vigorously  maintained,  and  the  author  hopes 
it  will  ever  maintain  when  encroached  upon  by  judicial 
tyranny. 

Erskine's  life  shows  that  a  time-serving,  base  demeanour 
toward  the  judges  is  not  the  only  road  to  preferment.  By 
his  patriotism  and  independence,  united  with  the  highest 
legal  excellence,  he  has  exalted,  still  higher,  the  useful  pro- 
fession to  which  he  belonged.  His  life  is  extremely  impor- 
tant as  showing  what  one  man,  single-handed  and  alone,  can 
do  against  the  corruptions  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived.  In 
this  country  where,  generally  speaking,  the  administration  of 
the  law  flows  in  such  pure  channels,  where  the  vast  majority 
of  our  judges  are  incorruptible,  and  watched  by  the  scruti- 
nising eyes  of  an  enlightened  bar,  as  well  as  the  jealous 
public,  where  juries  know  and  exercise  their  rights,  where 
advocates  of  unimpeachable  integrity  and  unquestioned 
ability  can  always  be  found  to  plead  the  cause  of  the  op- 
pressed— it  is  difficult  to  appreciate  the  great  services  per- 
formed by  Erskine  for  the  cause  of  civil  liberty. 

Eloquence  is  the  offspring  of  knowledge  and  freedom, 
and  can  never  flourish  in  the  blighting  shade  of  despotism. 
Her  voice,  sweet  and  entrancing,  cannot  be  heard,  when  jus- 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  ENGLAND.  2$  I 


tice  is  surrounded  by  the  hosts  of  corruption,  armed  with 
steel  or  with  gold. 

Upon  the  freedom,  independence,  knowledge,  and  elo- 
quence of  the  American  bar  depend,  in  a  great  measure,  the 
perpetuity  of  our  most  cherished  institutions. 

Erskine's  alleged  failure  to  support  Fox  as  strenuously  as 
he  should  have  done,  and  his  fear  of  Pitt  in  debate,  his  van- 
ity, a  weakness  which  he  had  in  common  with  many  great 
orators,  his  personal  frailities,  were  all  so  outweighed  by  his 
noble  qualities  that  they  are  hardly  worthy  of  mention. 

The  writer  cannot  forbear  giving  Talfourd's  opinion  of 
Erskine,  although  he  by  no  means  approves  of  the  whole  of 
what  he  says  : 

"  For  that  sphere,  (the  Court  of  King's  Bench,)  his  powers, 
his  acquisitions,  and  his  temperament  were  exactly  framed. 
He  brought  into  it,  indeed,  accomplishments  never  displayed 
there  before  in  equal  perfection — glancing  wit,  rich  humour, 
infinite  grace  of  action,  singular  felicity  of  language,  and  a 
memory  elegantly  stored,  yet  not  crowded,  with  subjects  of 
classical  and  fanciful  illustration.  Above  his  audience,  he 
was  not  beyond  their  sight,  and  he  possessed  rare  facilities 
of  raising  them  to  his  own  level.  In  this  purpose  he  was 
aided  by  his  connection  with  a  noble  family,  by  a  musical 
voice,  and  by  an  eloquent  eye,  which  enticed  men  to  forgive, 
and  even  to  admire  his  natural  polish  and  refined  allusions. 
But  his  moral  qualities  tended  even  more  to  win  them. 
Who  could  resist  a  disposition  overflowing  with  kindness, 
animal  spirits  as  elastic  as  those  of  a  school-boy,  and  a  love 
of  gaiety  and  pleasure  which  shone  out  amidst  the  most  anx- 
ious labours  ?  His  very  weaknesses  became  instruments  of 
fascination.  His  egotism,  his  vanity,  his  personal  frailties, 
were  all  genial,  and  gave  him  an  irresistible  claim  to  sympa- 
thy. His  warmest  colours  were  drawn,  not  from  the  fancy, 
but  the  affections.  If  he  touched  on  the  romantic,  it  was 
on  the  little  chapter  of  romance  which  belongs  to  the  most 
hurried  and  feverish  life.  The  unlettered  clown  and  the  as- 
siduous tradesman  understood  him,  when  he  revived  some 
bright  recollection  of  childhood,  or  brought  back  on  the 


252  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


heart  the  enjoyments  of  old  friendships,  or  touched  the  chord 
of  domestic  love  and  sorrow.  He  wielded  with  skill  and 
power  the  weapons  which  precedent  supplied,  but  he  rarely 
sought  for  others.  When  he  defended  the  rights  of  the 
subject,  it  was  not  by  abstract  disquisition,  but  by  freshen- 
ing up  anew  the  venerable  customs  and  immunities  which  he 
found  sanctioned  by  courts  and  parliaments,  and  infusing 
into  them  new  energy.  He  entrenched  himself  within  the 
forms  of  pleading,  even  when  he  ventured  to  glance  into 
literature  and  history.  These  forms  he  rendered  dignified 
as  a  fence  against  oppression,  and  cast  on  them  sometimes 
the  playful  hues  of  his  fancy.  His  powers  were  not  only 
adapted  to  his  sphere,  but  directed  by  admirable  discretion 
and  taste.  In  small  causes  he  was  never  betrayed  into  exag- 
geration, but  contrived  to  give  an  interest  to  their  details, 
and  to  conduct  them  at  once  with  dexterity  and  grace.  His 
jests  told  for  arguments  ;  his  digressions  only  threw  the  jury 
off  their  guard,  that  he  might  strike  a  decisive  blow ;  his  au- 
dacity was  always  wise.  His  firmness  was  no  less  under 
right  direction  than  his  weaknesses.  He  withstood  the 
bench,  and  rendered  the  bar  immortal  service ;  not  so  much 
by  the  courage  of  the  resistance,  as  by  the  happy  selection 
of  its  time,  and  the  exact  propriety  of  its  manner.  He  was, 
in  short,  the  most  consummate  advocate  of  whom  we  have 
any  trace ;  he  left  his  profession  higher  than  he  found  it ; 
and  yet  beyond  its  pale,  he  was  only  an  incomparable  com- 
panion, a  lively  pamphleteer,  and  a  weak  and  superficial 
debater." 

It  seems,  from  the  concurrent  testimony  of  those  who 
were  in  a  position  to  fairly  judge  of  Erskine's  ability,  that 
he  attained  the  highest  intellectual  eminence  to  which,  un- 
der circumstances,  the  most  favourable,  an  advocate  can 
reasonably  aspire. 

Sir  James  Scarlett — by  which  name  he  is  better  known 
to  the  legal  profession  than  by  the  title  of  Lord  Abinger, 
only  held  by  him  for  the  last  few  years  of  his  life — was  one 
of  the  most  successful  advocates  of  modern  times.  He 
gained  more  cases  than  any  of  his  contemporaries. 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  253 


Sir  James  Scarlett  was  born  on  the  I3th  day  of  Decem- 
ber, 1769,  in  the  Island  of  Jamaica.  He  was  the  descendant 
of  an  illustrious  family  on  both  sides.  His  father's  ancestors 
had  estates  in  Suffolk  and  Essex  in  the  reign  of  Charles  II. 
His  grandfather,  James  Scarlett,  married  the  daughter  of  a 
West  Indian  proprietor — a  relative  of  General  Wolfe,  who 
fell  at  Quebec.  Robert,  the  father  of  Lord  Abinger,  mar- 
ried Elizabeth  Anglin,  whose  direct  ancestor  was  President 
of  Lord  Protector  Cromwell's  Council  during  the  Common- 
wealth. 

Scarlett's  parents,  sensible  of  the  corruption  of  morals  in- 
cident to  that  unhappy  state  of  slavery  which  existed  in 
Jamaica,  sent  him,  at  an  early  age,  to  England  to  be  edu- 
cated. After  his  arrival  there — having  finished  his  prepara- 
tory studies — he  entered  himself  a  student  of  Trinity  College, 
Cambridge.  He  took  the  degrees  of  Bachelor  of  Arts,  and 
Master  of  Arts  at  that  University.  Having  entered  himself 
and  studied  law  in  the  Temple,  he  was  called  to  the  Bar  on 
the  28th  day  of  July,  1791.  Soon  after  his  call  to  the  Bar 
he  was  married  to  Miss  Louise  Henrietta  Campbell,  the 
daughter  of  Peter  Campbell,  Esq.,  of  Kilmary,  in  Argyll- 
shire. Scarlett  says  of  her:  "  Her  children  lived  to  witness 
her  sweet  disposition,  her  divine  temper,  and  consummate 
discretion.  I  lived  with  her  in  uninterrupted  comfort  and 
happiness  from  the  time  of  our  marriage  to  the  month  of 
March,  1829,  and  have  lived  ever  since  to  lament  her  loss." 
For  twenty-five  years  Scarlett  remained  a  junior  counsel, 
although  he  had  a  good  practice.  He  joined  the  Northern 
Circuit,  and  also  practiced  in  the  court  at  Lancaster. 

Scarlett's  personal  appearance  was  greatly  in  his  favour, 
and  he  enjoyed  the  reputation  of  being  "  the  handsome  bar- 
rister "  in  the  courts  which  he  attended.  His  complexion 
was  singularly  clear,  fresh,  and  delicate,  and  his  countenance 
was  redolent  of  health.  His  features  were  small,  regular, 
and  extremely  pleasant.  He  was  above  the  middle  height, 
and  late  in  life,  Falstaffian  in  width. 

It  is  said  that  Scarlett's  handsome,  contented,  smiling 
countenance  often  deceived  a  witness  into  the  belief  that 


254  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


whether  his  answer  was  yes  or  no  was  a  matter  of  very  little 
importance.  His  replies,  however,  are  said  to  have  been  his 
great  forte.  If  the  issue  depended  upon  the  balance  of 
testimony,  upon  contradictory  witnesses,  no  advocate  had  a 
happier  faculty  of  displaying  the  weak  points  of  his  adver- 
sary's case  and  the  strong  points  of  his  own.  If  it  depended 
upon  a  deduction  of  inferences,  upon  the  combination  of 
many  circumstances,  upon  reconciling  evidence  apparently 
discordant,  he  was  sure  to  obtain  attention  in  the  commence- 
ment, and  to  hold  it  to  the  conclusion.  He  made  few  notes 
of  what  he  intended  to  say,  but  arranged  all  the  points  in  his 
memory,  and  when  he  arose  his  face  expressed  the  certainty 
of  a  verdict  in  his  favour.  He  was  never  tedious,  and  he 
always  exhausted  his  subject,  but  never  his  hearers. 

Scarlett  always  selected,  with  consummate  judgment,  the 
strongest  points  in  his  client's  cause,  and  disregarding  those 
of  minor  importance,  he  presented  them  to  the  court  with 
unrivalled  clearness.  Stupid  indeed,  was  the  judge  or  juror 
who  could  not  see  the  strongest  features  of  his  client's  case, 
after  it  had  been  presented  by  him.  In  fact  Scarlett  was 
so  skillful  that  he  would  allow  them  to  look  at  nothing  else, 
except  what  made  against  the  other  side.  He  would  not 
allow  them  to  glance  at  any  other  object.  He  presented, 
with  surpassing  skill,  the  leading  facts  and  circumstances 
unfavourable  to  the  opposite  side,  and  it  has  been  said,  he 
was  so  remarkably  clear  and  convincing  in  his  reasonings 
that  there  was  no  chance  to  mistake  his  meaning. 

Scarlett  had  the  rare  faculty  of  divesting  legal  techni- 
calities of  their  repulsiveness  to  the  mind  of  the  average 
juror,  and  although  he  rarely  indulged  in  rhetoric  or  ora- 
tory, as  those  terms  are  usually  understood,  juries  rarely 
tired  of  listening  to  his  speeches.  He  did  more  to  enlighten 
the  minds  of  the  jury  and  the  audience  upon  the  principles 
of  the  common  law,  than  any  man  of  his  time.  An  able 
professor,  in  a  score  of  lectures,  could  not  have  done  the 
work  so  effectively.  By  his  talent  for  simplifying  abstruse 
matters,  and  popularising  technicalities,  he  invariably  won 
the  good-will  and  attention  of  the  jury,  and  he  rarely  failed 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  ENGLA  ND.  255 


to  make  even  a  jury  composed  of  the  most  ignorant  labourers 
understand,  fully,  the  law  and  the  facts  of  every  case. 

Scarlett  had  the  happy  faculty  of  selecting  the  most  tal- 
ented man  on  the  jury.  His  penetration  in  such  cases 
amounted  to  a  species  of  intuition.  To  the  party  thus  sin- 
gled out,  Scarlett  addressed  himself  almost  as  exclusively  as 
if  there  had  been  no  other  juror  in  the  box,  and  no  other 
person  in  the  court.  The  juror  of  course  felt  highly  flat- 
tered at  being  thus  distinguished  from  his  fellows,  and  was 
consequently  inclined  to  be  favourably  disposed  to  the  advo- 
cate. He  was  very  cheerful  in  his  manner  when  he  ad- 
dressed a  jury.  He  treated  the  jurors  as  if  he  had  been  upon 
terms  of  particular  intimacy  with  them  all  his  life.  His  style 
was  conversational.  His  speeches  were  seldom  laboured. 
He  paid  little  attention  to  rounding  his  periods.  His  man- 
ner of  addressing  a  jury  was  peculiar.  His  practice,  ordina- 
rily, is  said  to  have  been,  to  fold  up  the  sides  of  his  gown  in 
his  hands,  and  then,  placing  his  arms  on  his  breast,  smile  in 
the  faces  of  the  jury  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  his 
speech,  talking  at  the  same  time  to  them  as  if  they  were 
engaged  in  a  matter  of  mere  friendly  conversation. 

The  tone  of  his  voice  was  usually  low,  but  clear  and  dis- 
tinct. Scarlett  was  a  close  observer,  and  he  paid  particular 
attention  to  the  effect  which  the  testimony  both  of  his  own 
witnesses,  and  those  of  his  adversaries,  had  upon  the  jury. 

It  is  said  that  Scarlett  was  extremely  prudent  in  his  man- 
agement of  a  cause.  He  did  not  attempt  to  carry  the  feel- 
ings of  the  jury  by  storm  before  a  torrent  of  eloquence  as 
Brougham  and  some  of  his  other  contemporaries  did.  He 
confined  himself  closely  to  the  facts  of  the  case  in  every 
instance.  He  admitted  some  when  they  would  n't  hurt  his 
case  much,  forgot  to  mention  others  that  would,  and  ex- 
plained those  which  were  against  him  which  he  could  not 
afford  to  pass  in  silence. 

Scarlett's  method  of  conducting  his  cases  is  well  stated 
by  Talfourd,  himself  an  able  advocate  and  an  elegant  writer : 

"  Mr.  Scarlett,  the  present  leader  of  the  Court  of  King's 
Bench,  has  less  brilliancy  than  his  predecessor,  (Erskine),  but 


256  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


is  not  perhaps  essentially  inferior  to  him  in  the  management 
of  causes.  He  studiously  disclaims  imagination  ;  he  rarely 
addresses  the  passions ;  but  he  now  and  then  gives  indica- 
tions which  prove  that  he  has  disciplined  a  mind  of  con- 
siderable elegance  and  strength  to  Nisi  Pruis  uses.  In  the 
fine  tact  of  which  we  have  already  spoken — the  intuitive 
power  of  common  sense  sharpened  within  a  peculiar  circle — 
he  has  no  superior,  and  perhaps  no  e^ual.  He  never  betrays 
anxiety  in  the  crisis  of  a  cause,  but  instantly  decides  among 
complicated  difficulties,  and  is  almost  always  right.  He  can 
bridge  over  a  non-suit  with  insignificant  facts,  and  tread 
upon  the  gulf  steadily  but  warily  to  its  end.  What  Johnson 
said  of  Burke's  manner  of  treating  a  subject  is  true  of  his 
management  of  a  cause,  *  he  winds  himself  into  it  like  a  great 
serpent.'  He  does  not  take  a  single  view  of  it,  nor  desert  it 
when  it  begins  to  fail,  but  throws  himself  into  all  its  wind- 
ings, and  struggles  in  it  while  it  has  life.  There  is  a  lucid 
arrangement  and  sometimes  a  light  view  of  pleasantry  and 
feeling  in  his  opening  speeches ;  but  his  greatest  visible 
triumph  is  in  his  replies.  These  do  not  consist  of  a  mere 
series  of  ingenious  remarks  on  conflicting  evidence  ;  still  less 
of  a  tiresome  examination  of  the  testimony  of  each  witness 
singly  ;  but  are  as  finely  arranged  on  the  instant,  and  thrown 
into  as  noble  and  decisive  masses,  as  if  they  had  been  pre- 
pared in  the  study.  By  a  vigorous  grasp  of  thought,  he 
forms  a  plan  and  an  outline,  which  he  first  distinctly  marks, 
and  then  proceeds  to  fill  up  with  masterly  touches.  When 
a  case  has  been  spread  over  half  a  day,  and  apparently 
shattered  by  the  speech  and  witnesses  of  his  adversary,  he 
will  gather  it  up,  condense,  concentrate,  and  render  it  con- 
clusive. He  imparts  a  weight  and  solidity  to  all  that  he 
touches.  Vague  suspicions  become  certainties,  as  he  ex- 
hibits them  ;  and  circumstances  light,  valueless,  and  uncon- 
nected till  then,  are  united  together,  and  come  down  in 
wedges  which  drive  conviction  into  the  mind. 
Scarlett,  in  the  debate  on  the  motion  relative  to  the  Chan- 
cellor's attack  on  Mr.  Abercrombie,  showed  that  he  has  felt 
it  necessary  to  bend  his  mind  considerably  to  the  routine  of 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND. 

his  practice.  He  was  then  surprised  into  his  own  original 
nature ;  and  forgetting  the  measured  compass  of  his  long- 
adopted  voice  and  manner,  spoke  out  in  a  broad  northern 
dialect,  and  told  daring  truths  which  astonished  the  house. 
It  is  not  thus,  however,  that  he  wins  verdicts  and  compels 
the  court  to  grant  '  rules  to  show  cause  ! ' 

Notwithstanding  Scarlett's  usual  mildness,  when  the  oc- 
casion warranted,  he  could  be  extremely  severe  in  his 
language,  and  he  was  once  sued  for  slander.  He  called  the 
plaintiff  (the  name  of  the  case  is  Hodgson  v.  Scarlett,  I 
B.  and  A,  232),  *  a  fraudulent  and  wicked  attorney.'  The 
-court  decided  that  a  lawyer  is  not  liable  for  words  spoken  in 
the  argument  of  a  cause,  if  they  are  pertinent  to  the  issues 
involved. 

Some  of  Scarlett's  critics  insist  that  he  was  haughty,  super- 
cillious,  and  arrogant  to  his  inferiors,  and  that  he  was  selfish, 
and  unpatriotic.  The  writer  is  of  the  opinion  that  none 
of  these  charges  are  true  ;  on  the  contrary,  while  at  the 
bar  he  was  deservedly  popular  with  all  its  members  with 
very  few  exceptions,  and  he  was  always  extremely  desirous 
to  aid  in  the  enactment  of  laws  which  he  deemed  beneficial 
to  his  country.  He  did  everything  in  his  power  to  assist 
Sir  Samuel  Romilly  and  Sir  James  Mackintosh  to  mitigate 
the  severities  of  the  English  criminal  law.  It  is  true  he  was 
quiet  and  unostentatious  in  his  efforts  to  reform  abuses  ; 
others  often  obtained  credit  which  was  due  him.  Various 
conjectures  have  been  made  as  to  the  cause  of  Sir  James 
Scarlett's  success  at  the  bar,  and  many  of  them  are  very 
plausible,  but  the  cause  of  his  success  is  better  stated  by 
himself  than  by  any  of  his  critics.  He  says  in  his  Auto- 
biography :  "  From  these  remarks  it  will  appear  that  my 
success  did  not  in  the  least  depend  on  those  tirades  of 
declamation  which  make  the  reputation  of  a  speaker.  Nor 
in  the  most  considerable  and  difficult  cases  in  which  I  have 
carried  the  verdict,  can  any  one  who  reads  the  printed 
speech  either  take  any  interest  in  it  or  even  understand  it 
without  reading  over  and  understanding  the  whole  of  the 
evidence.  I  never  made  a  speech  with  a  view  to  my  own 


258  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


reputation,  nor  for  any  other  object  but  to  serve  my 
client.  The  general  audience,  therefore,  which  crowded 
to  hear  popular  speakers  took  little  interest  in  my  per- 
formances. But  the  judge  and  the  jury,  on  the  contrary, 
gave  me  their  profound  attention,  and  I  believe  I  may  say 
that  no  advocate  in  my  time  possessed  a  greater  influence 
with  them.  Upon  this  subject,  perhaps,  I  may  be  excused 
for  relating  an  anecdote  which  is  an  illustration  of  it.  On 
the  Northern  Circuit  at  certain  periods  there  used  to  be  a 
grand  supper,  at  which  all  the  members  were  assembled, 
and  the  expenses  of  which  were  paid  by  fines  and  congratu- 
lations that  resulted  in  contributions  to  which  the  principal 
leaders  were  subject.  These  were  introduced,  in  general,  in 
a  ceremonious  speech  by  one  of  the  body  who  bore  the 
office  of  Attorney-General  of  the  Circuit.  Upon  the  occa- 
sion to  which  I  allude,  the  present  Lord  Chief-Justice  Tindal 
held  that  office.  I  was  leader  of  the  Circuit  both  in  rank 
and  business.  He  introduced  my  name  for  the  purpose  of 
a  congratulation,  by  stating  that  his  friend  Mr.  Scarlett  had 
for  many  years  been  employing  his  genius  in  the  invention 
of  a  machine  which  he  had  brought  to  perfection.  The 
operation,  the  whole  Circuit  were  in  the  habit  of  witnessing, 
with  astonishment  at  his  success.  He,  the  Attorney-Gen- 
eral, had  at  length  discovered  the  secret,  which  was  no  other 
than  a  machine  which  he  dexterously  contrived  to  keep  out 
of  sight,  but  by  virtue  of  which  he  produced  a  surprising 
effect  on  the  head  of  the  judge.  *  You  have  all  noticed, 
gentlemen,  that  when  my  learned  friend  addresses  the  court 
he  produces  on  the  judge's  head  a  motion  angular  to  the 
horizon,  like  this,'  he  then  made  a  movement  of  his  head 
which  signified  a  nod  of  approbation.  When  he  had  car- 
ried his  motion  by  a  unanimous  vote  of  congratulation,  he 
proceeded  to  another  leader  of  the  Circuit,  a  gentleman  of 
more  popular  and  much  higher  reputation  as  a  speaker  than 
myself.  He  said:  'This  gentleman,  as  you  all  know,  has 
for  years  been  devoting  his  illustrious  talents  to  surpass  Mr. 
Scarlett.  This  he  endeavours  to  accomplish  by  various 
means,  and  amongst  others  by  imitating  his  example  in 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  .2$$ 


the  invention  of  a  machine  to  operate  on  the  head  of  the 
judge.  In  this  he  has  at  length,  after  much  labour  and 
study,  succeeded.  But  you  have  observed  that  the  motion 
he  produces  is  of  a  different  character.  It  is  parallel  to  the 
horizon,  in  this  fashion,'  he  then  moved  his  head  in  a  man- 
ner denoting  dissent.  The  contrast  and  the  joke  occasioned 
much  laughter,  in  which  the  gentleman  last  alluded  to  most 
heartily  joined,  his  good-nature  being  not  less  remarkable 
than  his  talents. 

"  I  avoided  every  topic  that  I  observed  made  an  unfavour- 
able impression  upon  them,  and  when  I  discovered  the 
strings  that  vibrated  in  their  bosoms,  I  often  by  a  single 
touch  on  the  true  card,  in  the  course  of  my  address  or  some- 
times in  an  incidental  remark  on  the  evidence  as  it  was  given, 
saw  that  I  had  carried  the  verdict.  I  recollect  that  early 
in  my  career  I  was  junior  counsel  for  the  sitting  member 
upon  an  election  petition.  The  case  was  one  of  very  great 
interest  from  many  exaggerated  and  false  accounts  that  had 
been  published  before  the  meeting  of  parliament.  The 
petitioner  was  a  strong  supporter  of  ministers,  and  the  great 
majority  of  the  committee  was  formed  of  persons  actually 
in  office,  or  of  his  own  partisans.  I  soon  perceived  from  the 
petitioner's  evidence  and  the  manner  in  which  it  was  re- 
ceived, that  to  retain  the  seat  was  hopeless,  and  that  even  to 
avoid  seating  the  petitioner  was  a  task  of  considerable  diffi- 
culty. My  leader  was  a  learned  sergeant,  who  opened  his 
case  for  the  sitting  member  something  too  high.  The 
evidence  on  both  sides,  however,  satisfied  me  that  the 
true  conclusion  was  to  make  it  a  void  election,  but,  that  to 
lead  the  committee  to  that  conclusion  required  very  close 
and  exact  reasoning  on  the  evidence.  I  determined  to  try 
my  powers.  It  was  the  first  election  committee  on  which  I 
was  concerned.  I  began  my  address  by  stating  that  I 
should  add  nothing  to  the  arguments  of  my  leader  in  sup- 
port of  the  seat,  because  I  felt  that  if  he  had  not  satisfied 
them  upon  that  point,  it  would  be  vain  for  me  to  attempt  it. 
I  should  therefore  confine  myself  strictly  to  the  question 
whether  the  petitioner  had  established  a  right  to  the  seat, 


260  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


or  whether  it  was  a  void  election,  and  though  I  did  not  dis- 
guise to  myself  the  difficulties  that  lay  in  my  way  even  upon 
that  question,  I  entertained  a  strong  hope  that  if  they 
would  honour  me  with  their  attention  whilst  I  brought 

o 

before  them  such  parts  of  the  evidence  on  both  sides  as  ap- 
peared to  me  material,  it  would  be  in  my  power  to  convince 
them  that  they  ought  to  take  the  same  view  of  the  case 
which  induced  me  to  entertain  that  hope ;  the  more  espe- 
cially as  I  did  not  doubt  that  much  of  the  prejudice  that  had 
been  excited,  and  which  gave  so  strong  an  interest  in  the 
case,  had  already  been  dispelled  by  the  evidence. 

"  Confining  their  attention  to  a  single  point,  I  omitted  all 
facts  that  might  be  doubted,  selected  only  those  which 
could  not  be  disputed,  and  made  my  remarks  as  concisely 
and  as  perspicuously  as  I  was  able  to  do.  In  the  course  of 
the  first  half  hour  I  found  that  the  majority  of  the  com- 
mittee were  listening  to  me  with  the  most  profound  attention, 
which  was  preserved  to  the  end  of  a  speech  of  two  hours  and 
a  half,  much  the  shortest  that  had  been  delivered.  The  re- 
sult was  that  the  committee  came  to  the  conclusion  I  had 
desired,  namely,  that  the  election  was  void,  by  a  small 
majority,  in  which  I  considered  it  a  great  enhancement  of 
my  victory  to  find  the  nominee  of  the  petitioner.  This 
nominee  was  no  other  than  Mr.  Bond  the  king's  counsel 
and  at  that  time  judge  advocate.  A  friend  of  mine  who 
took  an  interest  in  my  success,  asked  this  gentleman  how 
Scarlett  had  acquitted  himself.  He  replied,  '  he  made  a  very 
masterly  dissection  of  the  evidence,  and  certainly  convinced 
me.'  There  was  the  whole  secret,  to  make  a  masterly  dis- 
section of  evidence  when  the  cause  depended  on  a  correct  judg- 
ment of  the  facts" 

Scarlett  obtained  a  seat  in  the  House  of  Commons  in  1818, 
but  his  parliamentary  career  did  not  altogether  satisfy  his 
friends.  In  the  year  1822  he  was  returned  for  the  University 
of  Cambridge,  and  subsequently  represented  Maldon  and 
Cockermouth;  and  after  the  Reform  Bill,  he  was  member 
for  the  city  of  Norwich. 

In   1827  he  was  made  attorney-general  and  was  knighted. 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  261 


On  December  24,  1834,  Scarlett  was  made  Chief  Baron 
of  the  Court  of  Exchequer,  and  in  the  following  month  he 
was  elevated  to  the  House  of  Peers  by  the  title  of  Lord 
Abinger,  of  Abinger,  in  Surrey,  an  estate  which  he  had  pur- 
chased. Scarlett  did  not  distinguish  himself  while  on  the 
bench.  It  is  conceded,  however,  that  he  was  a  lover  of 
learning  and  of  learned  men,  a  patron  of  art  and  artists,  and 
a  man  of  liberal  thoughts  and  acquirements. 

A  very  high  compliment  was  paid  Sir  James  Scarlett  by 
Sir  James  Coleridge,  who,  while  speaking  of  his  legal  attain- 
ments, said,  in  the  year  1859,  that  his  place  at  the  bar, 
twenty-five  years  after  his  leaving  it,  was  yet  unfilled. 
Scarlett  was  struck  with  a  fit  of  paralysis  while  attending 
the  Norfolk  Circuit  as  a  judge  in  1844,  and  died  soon  there- 
after at  the  age  of  seventy-five  years. 

Bright. — John  Bright  was  born  November  16,  1811,  at 
Greenbank,  Rochdale,  England.  He  was  placed  in  his 
father's  counting-house  after  an  ordinary  school-training. 
During  the  discussion  of  the  Reform  Bill  of  1831-32,  he 
distinguished  himself.  He  was  also  an  ardent  and  elo- 
quent supporter,  along  with  Richard  Cobden,  of  the  Anti- 
Corn  Law  League.  This  body  was  dissolved  at  Manchester 
in  1846,  after  the  legislature  established  free  trade. 

Mr.  Bright  entered  parliament  in  the  year  1843.  He  soon 
became  one  of  the  most  popular  speakers  in  the  house. 
One  writer  says  of  his  published  speeches,  "  We  doubt  if  our 
language  possesses  a  record  of  any  speeches  really  spoken, 
which  are  superior  to  them."  The  following  account  has  been 
given  of  his  oratory.  "  During  three  years  Mr.  Bright  has  been 
an  involuntary  absentee  from  parliamentary  life.  '  I  shall  not 
know  the  House  of  Commons  without  Sir  Robert  Peel,'  said 
Macaulay,  when  his  election  for  Edinburgh  restored  him  to 
his  old  place  there.  The  Reformed  House  of  Commons  has 
scarcely  been  itself  without  Mr.  Bright.  His  accustomed 
seat  below  the  gangway  has  lacked  him,  and  his  absence 
was  even  less  conspicuous  when  his  place  was  empty  than 
when  it  was  filled  by  some  veteran  Leaguer,  or  some  pre- 
ferred home  ruler  from  the  upper  benches.  The  portly 


262  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


figure  and  the  lion-like  head  caught  the  glance  of  all 
strangers  ;  and  '  Bright '  was  pointed  out  with  pride  by  the 
habitues  or  the  attendants  of  the  place.  The  time  is  probably 
approaching  when  he  will  be  seen  there  again  ;  when  visitors 
will  comment  on  the  sharp  decision  with  which  the  member 
for  Birmingham  accompanied  his  talk  to  his  neighbour;  and 
watch  for  the  quick,  nervous  glance  towards  the  chair,  and 
the  slight  movement  which  seldom  failed  to  catch  at  once 
the  eye  of  the  Speaker,  and  to  arrest  the  attention  of  the 
House,  as  he  rose  to  take  part  in  the  debate.  Whatever 
differences  of  opinion  might  exist  in  the  House  of  Commons 
with  respect  to  Mr.  Bright  as  a  politician,  there  never  was 
any  question  as  to  his  consummate  ability  as  an  orator. 
The  emptiest  house — if  perchance  he  rose  in  an  empty  house, 
which  he  was  seldom  prone  to  do — speedily  filled  when  he 
was  known  to  be  on  his  legs.  Beginning  in  low  and 
measured  tones,  with  a  sort  of  conversational  hesitation 
in  the  opening  sentences,  he  speedily  rose  to  animation. 
The  first  condition  of  his  success  was  this  :  that  business 
was  the  backbone  of  his  speeches.  They  were  always  ani- 
mated by  a  purpose  which  was  clear  to  himself,  and  which 
he  never  failed  to  make  clear  to  his  hearers.  No  one  could 
fail  to  know  what  he  was  driving  at. 

"  Though  essentially  a  plain  speaker,  both  in  the  literary 
and  moral  meaning  of  the  phrase,  there  can  be  no  greater 
mistake  than  that  he  is  (if  one  may  still  speak  in  the  present 
tense)  a  rude  or  unpolished  one.  In  one  sense,  he  is  the 
most  cultivated  speaker  in  the  House  of  Commons,  inas- 
much as  he  has  most  elaborately  and  successfully  trained 
his  natural  gifts  of  eloquence.  A  presence  which  fills  the 
eye,  a  voice  which  at  once  takes  the  ear,  and  a  slow  and  de- 
liberate utterance  which  seems  to  choose  the  best  word,  and  to 
watch  its  effect  in  order  that  he  may  so  choose  and  place  the 
next  as  to  heighten,  or,  if  need  be,  to  soften  and  qualify  the 
impression  of  the  first,  compel  attention  and  interest.  Mr. 
Bright's  power  of  convincing  does  not  lie  so  much  in  strict 
logic — he  does  not  often  affect  the  forms  of  logic,  though  his 
speeches  never  want  the  substance  of  it — as  in  the  submis- 


ORA  TOR  Y  IN  ENGLAND.  263 


sion  of  the  essential  elements  of  a  question  to  sagacious 
common  sense  and  right  feeling.  Nothing  can  be  better 
fitted  than  his  words  to  his  thought.  The  best  answer  to 
the  imputation  that  he  is  un-English  in  character  might,  per- 
haps, be  found  in  his  language,  which  is  more  thoroughly 
and  racily  English  than  that  of  any  speaker  in  either  House. 
It  combines  in  happy  blending,  alike  the  simple  and  dignified 
elements  of  our  tongue.  Mr.  Bright,  if  he  has  not  as  much 
talent  as  Mr.  Disraeli,  has  a  great  deal  more  humor  ;  he  has 
as  much  earnestness  as  Mr.  Gladstone,  with  more  self-posses- 
sion ;  and  he  has  a  simplicity  of  pathos,  and  an  occasional 
grandeur,  scorn,  and  indignation,  which  belong  to  neither. 
No  orator  has  contributed  more  to  the  public  stock — more 
images  and  phrases  that  will  live — than  Mr.  Bright.  Mr. 
Disraeli  as  the  mountebank,  with  a  pill  for  the  earthquake, 
and  Mr.  Lowe  and  Mr.  Horsman  as  the  Scotch  terrier  party 
of  which  no  one  could  tell  the  head  from  the  tail,  belong 
now  to  history  as  completely  as  the  Adullamites  and  the 
fancy  franchises  to  our  political  vocabulary.  Few  things 
finer  have  ever  been  uttered  by  any  orator  than  Mr.  Bright's 
appeal  to  the  rival  leaders  to  lay  aside  their  animosities  in 
order  to  seek  a  remedy  for  the  wrongs  of  Ireland,  than  the 
passage  in  which  he  described  the  angel  of  death  visiting 
the  homes  to  be  desolated  by  the  Crimean  war,  or  than  the 
moral  dignity  of  the  sentences  in  which  he  vindicated  his 
own  career  at  Birmingham." 

Although  there  is  a  great  diversity  of  opinion  as  to  Mr. 
Bright's  rank  as  a  statesman,  posterity  will  unhesitatingly 
say  that  he  was  one  of  the  greatest  orators  of  his  time. 
Those  who  have  heard  him  speak  most  frequently,  and  those 
most  capable  of  passing  judgment  upon  his  oratory,  are 
loudest  in  their  praise  of  it.  Mr.  Bright,  in  one  of  his 
speeches  at  Birmingham,  described  himself  as  having,  dur- 
ing the  quarter  of  a  century  over  which  his  public  life  then 
extended,  endured  measureless  insult,  and  passed  through 
hurricanes  of  abuse. 

While  Mr.  Bright  was  alive,  the  following  graphic  and  able 
account  of  his  manner  of  speaking  was  written  by  Mr.  T.  W. 


264  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


Reid  :  "  His  manner,  when  speaking,  is  quiet  and  subdued, 
but  it  is  the  apparent  subjugation  which  a  bar  of  iron  under- 
goes when  it  passes  from  the  red-hot  stage  to  the  condition 
of  white-heat.  The  red-hot  bar  splutters  and  sends  forth 
sparks,  and  is,  on  the  whole,  the  more  imposing  to  the  pass- 
ing glance.  But  there  are  more  heat  and  power  in  the  quiet- 
looking  bar  that  steadfastly  burns,  content,  without  calling 
attention  to  the  process,  by  occasionally  spluttering  forth  an 
ineffectual  shower  of  sparks.  In  the  course  of  a  speech  Mr. 
Bright  generally  manages  to  say  something  damaging  to  his 
opponents  and  helpful  to  the  cause  he  advocates.  But  when 
he  sits  down,  there  is  invariably  a  feeling  amongst  his  audi- 
ence that  he  has  by  no  means  exhausted  himself,  but  could, 
if  he  pleased,  have  said  a  great  deal  more  that  would  have 
been  equally  effectual.  To  this  end  his  quiet,  self-possessed 
manner  greatly  tends.  He  has  himself  well  in  hand  through- 
out his  orations,  and  therefore  maintains  his  hold  upon  his 
audience.  His  gestures  are  of  the  fewest ;  but  unlike  Mr. 
Disraeli's,  they  always  seem  appropriate  and  natural.  A 
simple  wave  of  the  right  hand,  and  the  sentence  is  empha- 
sized. Nature  has  gifted  him  with  a  fine  presence,  and  a 
voice  the  like  of  which  has  but  rarely  rung  through  the 
rafters  of  St.  Stephen's.  *  Like  a  bell '  is  the  illustration 
usually  employed  in  the  endeavour  to  convey  by  words  an 
impression  of  its  music.  But  I  think  it  were  better  to  say 
'  like  a  peal  of  bells,'  for  a  single  one  could  not  produce  the 
varied  tones  in  which  Mr.  Bright  suits  his  expressions  to  his 
theme.  On  the  whole,  the  dominant  note  is  one  of  pathos. 
Possibly  because  nearly  all  Mr.  Bright's  great  speeches  have 
been  made  when  he  has  been  pleading  the  cause  of  the  op- 
pressed, or  denouncing  a  threatened  wrong,  a  tone  of  melan- 
choly can  be  heard  running  through  all.  And  for  the 
expression  of  pathos,  there  are  marvelously  touching  tones 
in  his  voice,  tones  which  carry  right  to  the  listener's  heart 
the  tender  thoughts  that  come  glowing  from  the  speaker's 
and  are  clad  in  simple  words  as  they  pass  his  tongue. 

"  We  have  seen  him  thrill  to  tears,  or  rouse  to  shouts  of 
applause  the  like   of  which  we  never  heard  before,  a  rough 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  ENGLAND.  26$ 


Lancashire  audience  of  eight  or  nine  thousand  persons, 
*  packed  within  one  of  the  great  mills  at  Rochdale  ;  and  in 
the  House  of  Commons  we  have  heard  him  speak  for  an 
hour  at  a  stretch,  whilst  every  man  in  the  building  listened 
with  breathless  attention,  and  the  cheers  that  broke  out  at 
the  end  of  every  sentence  came  almost  as  much  from  the  one 
side  of  the  House  as  from  the  other.  Nay,  we  have  watched 
the  faces  of  the  men  to  whom  is  committed  the  government 
of  the  British  Empire,  and  of  the  '  strangers '  permitted  to 
join  with  them,  strangers  including  princes  of  the  blood, 
peers  of  long  descent,  the  ministers  of  foreign  countries,  and 
the  leaders  of  the  Church  ;  we  have  watched  them,  as  slowly, 
word  by  word,  he  was  rolling  forth  the  magnificent  perora- 
tion of  one  of  his  great  speeches,  and  we  have  seen  upon 
their  countenances  such  a  rapt,  and  almost  awe-stricken  ex- 
pression, as — to  return  to  the  simile  we  mentioned  at  the 
beginning  of  this  sketch— one  might  have  expected  to  see 
on  the  faces  of  a  Hebrew  congregation  before  whom  an 
Isaiah  was  delivering  himself  of  his  heaven-born  visions. 

"  We  cannot  resist  the  temptation  of  transcribing  this  one 
'  vision  '  of  the  member  for  Birmingham,  in  1862,  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  American  war,  and  the  delivery  of  which  will 
ever  dwell,  in  the  memories  of  those  who  heard  it  uttered, 
as  one  of  the  most  wonderful  incidents  in  their  lives.  *  The 
leaders  of  this  revolt/  said  he,  after  speaking  nearly  two 
hours  with  regard  to  the  war,  '  propose  this  monstrous  thing 
— that,  over  a  territory  forty  times  as  large  as  England  the 
blight  of  slavery  shall  be  forever  perpetuated.  I  cannot 
believe,  for  my  part,  that  such  a  fate  will  befall  that  fair 
land,  stricken  though  it  now  is  with  the  ravages  of  war.  I 
cannot  believe  that  civilisation,  in  its  journey  with  the  sun, 
will  sink  into  endless  night,  in  order  to  gratify  the  ambition 
of  the  leaders  of  this  revolt,  who  seek  to 

"  Wade  through  slaughter  to  a  throne, 
And  shut  the  gates  of  mercy  to  mankind." 

"  '  I  have  another  and  a  far  brighter  vision  before  my  gaze. 
It  may  be  but  a  vision,  but  I  will  cherish  it.  I  see  one  vast 


266  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


confederation,  stretching  from  the  frozen  North  in  unbroken 
line  to  the  glowing  South,  and  from  the  wild  billows  of  the 
Atlantic,  westward  to  the  calmer  waters  of  the  Pacific  main 
—and  I  see  one  people,  and  one  language,  and  one  law,  and 
one  faith,  and  over  all  that  wide  continent  the  home  of  free- 
dom, and  a  refuge  for  the  oppressed  of  every  race  and  of 
every  clime.' 

"  And  yet,  whilst  the  effect  produced  by  Mr.  Bright  upon 
those  who  listen  to  him  is  wonderful,  the  first  impression  of 
those  who  hear  him  for  the  first  time  is  one  of  disappoint- 
ment. When  he  begins  to  speak  to  any  audience,  he  gen- 
erally opens  his  address  in  a  low  tone,  pauses  occasionally, 
as  though  to  find  a  suitable  word,  and  seems  to  have  no 
idea  whatever  of  rousing  the  enthusiasm  of  those  who  listen 
to  him.  Those  who  have  taken  with  them  pre-conceived 
notions  of  Mr.  Bright,  presenting  him  to  their  imaginations 
as  a  reckless  demagogue,  full  of  sound  and  fury,  will  hardly 
be  able  to  recognise  the  great  orator  in  the  quiet  and  unim- 
passioned  speaker  who  stands  motionless  before  them,  pour- 
ing forth  a  stream  of  noble  Saxon  words,  the  very  simplicity 
and  appropriateness  of  which  rob  the  orator  of  a  portion  of 
the  credit  which  is  due  to  him. 

"  But  presently,  while  the  stranger  is  wondering  at  the 
infatuation  of  those  who  have  placed  upon  the  brows  of  this 
man  the  crown  of  eloquence,  he  is  himself  drawn  within  the 
circle  of  his  influence,  and,  forgetting  his  pre-conceived 
notions,  his  subsequent  disappointment  and  his  whole  the- 
ory of  the  art  of  oratory,  he  listens  enchanted  to  the  man 
who  can  put  the  most  difficult  questions  so  plainly  before 
his  audience,  and  in  whose  hands  the  dryest  subject  becomes 
so  interesting. 

"  Then,  when  the  speaker  has  drawn  the  whole  of  his 
hearers  into  sympathy  with  him,  he  begins  to  work  on  their 
emotions  like  a  skilful  player  on  the  harp.  And  first  he 
rouses  the  scorn  of  scorn  in  their  hearts  by  a  few  simple 
words,  which,  when  we  read  them  in  the  morning,  appear 
altogether  innocent,  but  which,  as  he  utters  them,  scathe  the 
object  of  his  wrath  more  terribly  than  the  bitterest  or  most 


ORATORY  IN1  ENGLAND.  267 


violent  invective.  Perhaps  in  nothing  has  Mr.  Bright  so 
much  power  as  in  his  use  of  sarcasm.  The  manner  in  which, 
by  a  mere  inflection  of  his  voice,  he  can  express  the  intensest 
scorn,  and  so  express  it  as  to  make  his  feelings  more  com- 
pletely known  to  his  audience  than  if  he  spent  an  hour  in 
trying  to  explain  them,  is  simply  marvellous.  We  remem- 
ber one  or  two  instances  in  which  the  mere  tone  of  his  voice 
has  conveyed  an  impression  of  his  boundless  contempt  for 
his  adversary  which  no  language  could  have  expressed  half 
so  well. 

*'  But  almost  directly  after  the  audience  has  been  stirred 
by  the  orator's  sarcasm,  he  begins  in  the  calmest  and 
most  deliberate  manner  to  tell  some  story.  Mr.  Bright  is  a 
wonderful  story-teller,  and  some  of  the  best  anecdotes  and 
illustrations  that  have  been  given  to  us  in  modern  times  have 
come  from  him.  The  story  of  the  old  gentleman,  for  in- 
stance, who  used  to  say  that  a  *  hole  wore  longer  than  a 
patch,'  is  worthy  of  being  placed  beside  the  history  of  Dame 
Partington  ;  .  .  .  and  the  Syrian  monk,  to  whom  '  tears 
were  as  natural  as  perspiration,'  are  good  examples  of  the 
ready  wit  with  which  he  supplies  every  argument  he  em- 
ploys with  an  appropriate  illustration. 

"  More  notable  examples  of  the  same  quality  are  to  be 
found  in  that  speech  in  which  he  christened  the  Adullamites, 
and  added  a  new  phrase — '  the  Cave ' — to  the  vocabulary  of 
party  politics.  The  speech  itself  was  a  triumph  of  humour, 
nothing  in  it  being  more  grotesquely  irresistible  than  that 
never-to-be-forgotten  of  the  *  party  of  two/  which  bore  so 
striking  a  resemblance  to  the  young  ladies'  terrier,  '  which 
was  so  covered  with  hair  that  you  could  not  tell  which  was 
the  head  and  which  was  the  tail  of  it.' 

"  Perhaps  none  of  Mr.  Bright's  qualities  does  so  much  to 
render  him  popular,  as  a  speaker,  both  in  the  House  of 
Commons  and  in  the  provinces,  as  his  humour.  And. one 
peculiarity  of  his  humour  is,  that  it  always  appears  to  be  un- 
conscious. When  he  is  telling  one  of  his  best  stories,  or 
uttering  one  of  his  best  sayings,  he  hardly  moves  a  muscle 
of  his  face,  and  seemingly  takes  no  share  in  the  merriment 
of  his  audience." 


268  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


Mr.  Bright  rarely  indulged  in  classical  quotations,  for  the 
reason,  probably,  that  he  received  his  education  at  Quaker 
schools  and  colleges,  where  the  classics  were  not  taught. 
But  his  knowledge  of  English  literature  was  very  consider- 
able, and  his  quotations  from  the  greatest  authors  were  fre- 
quent and  felicitous. 

When  Mr.  Bright  desired  to  cover  with  ridicule  the  fac- 
tion of  which  Mr.  Lowe  was  the  head,  he  thought  of  the 
escape  of  David  from  Achish,  King  of  Gath,  and  the 
people  who  subsequently  gathered  with  him  in  the  Cave 
of  Adullam. 

On  another  occasion  when  speaking  complainingly  of  the 
Conservatives,  he  said  that  if  that  party  "  had  been  in  the 
wilderness,  they  would  have  complained  of  the  Ten  Com- 
mandments as  a  harassing  piece  of  legislation." 

He  called  Mr.  Disraeli  the  "  mystery  man  of  the  min- 
istry." And  he  said  of  Sir  Charles  Adderly  in  a  letter  to  a 
friend,  "  I  hope  he  thought  he  was  speaking  the  truth,  but 
he  is  rather  a  dull  man,  and  is  liable  to  make  blunders."  Of 
another  man,  who  boasted  that  his  ancestors  came  over  with 
the  Conqueror,  he  said,  "  I  never  heard  that  they  did  any- 
thing else." 

Mr.  Bright  was  unable  to  attend  to  his  parliamentary 
duties  for  a  short  time  on  account  of  sickness ;  a  nobleman 
impudently  remarked  in  public,  that,  by  way  of  punishment 
for  the  use  he  had  made  of  his  talents,  Providence  had  in- 
flicted upon  Mr.  Bright  a  disease  of  the  brain.  Mr.  Bright 
said,  when  he  resumed  his  duties:  "  It  may  be  so,  but  in 
any  case,  it  will  be  some  consolation  to  the  friends  and 
family  of  the  noble  lord  to  know  that  the  disease  is  one 
which  even  Providence  could  not  inflict  upon  him." 

One  of  the  most  striking  passages  to  be  found  in  any  of 
Mr.  Bright's  speeches  is  the  following  one,  taken  from  his 
speech  against  the  prosecution  of  the  Crimean  war: 

"  I  do  not  suppose  that  your  troops  are  to  be  beaten  in 
actual  conflict  with  the  foe,  or  that  they  will  be  driven  into 
the  sea ;  but  I  am  certain  that  many  homes  in  England  in 
which  there  exists  a  fond  hope  that  the  distant  one  may 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  ENGLAND.  269 


return — many  such  homes  may  be  rendered  desolate  when 
the  next  mail  shall  arrive.  The  angel  of  death  has  been 
abroad  throughout  the  land  ;  you  may  almost  hear  the  beat- 
ing of  his  wings.  There  is  no  one,  as  when  the  first-born 
was  slain  of  old,  to  sprinkle  with  blood  the  lintel  and  the  two 
side-posts  of  our  doors,  that  he  may  spare  and  pass  on  ;  he 
takes  his  victims  from  the  castle  of  the  noble,  the  mansion 
of  the  wealthy,  and  the  cottage  of  the  poor  and  lowly,  and 
it  is  in  behalf  of  all  these  classes  that  I  make  this  solemn 
appeal.  ...  I  would  ask,  I  would  entreat  the  noble  lord 
(Palmerston)  to  take  a  course  which,  when  he  looks  back 
upon  his  whole  political  career — whatever  he  may  find 
therein  to  be  pleased  with,  whatever  to  regret — cannot  but 
be  a  source  of  gratification  to  him.  By  adopting  that  course 
he  would  have  the  satisfaction  of  reflecting  that,  having 
obtained  the  laudable  object  of  his  ambition — having 
become  the  foremost  subject  of  the  crown,  the  director  of, 
it  may  be,  the  destinies  of  his  country,  and  the  presiding 
genius  of  her  councils — he  had  achieved  a  still  higher  and 
nobler  ambition  ;  that  he  had  returned  the  sword  to  its 
scabbard — that  at  his  words  torrents  of  blood  had  ceased  to 
flow — that  he  had  restored  tranquillity  to  Europe,  and  saved 
this  country  from  the  indescribable  calamities  of  war." 

On  November  3,  1868,  Mr.  Bright  was  presented  with  the 
freedom  of  the  city  of  Edinburgh,  and  in  1869  he  accepted 
office  as  president  of  the  Board  of  Trade.  He  was  appointed 
to  the  Chancellorship  of  the  Duchy  of  Lancaster  in  August, 
1873,  and  held  that  post  till  the  dissolution  of  the  Liberal 
Government,  February,  1874.  Mr.  Bright's  name  was  also 
identified  with  a  scheme  for  the  reform  of  the  electoral  rep- 
resentation. 

Mr.  Bright  was  robust  of  frame,  broad-shouldered,  broad- 
chested,  and  of  graceful  manners.  He  had  a  broad,  full, 
decidedly  Saxon  face.  His  forehead  was  broad  and  high. 
His  brows  were  dark  and  heavy.  His  eyes  were  a  keen, 
tender  blue,  full  of  "  sweet  gravity,  and  wonderfully  intellec- 
tual." They  could  flash  fire,  or  melt  into  tears,  and  capti- 
vated all  who  came  within  the  sphere  of  their  influence. 


270  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


"  His  mouth,"  says  a  writer,  who  gave  a  description  of  him 
before  his  death,  "  though  large,  is  firm  and  indicative  of  the 
greatness  of  his  heart,  and  has  an  expression  of  good 
humour.  The  lips  have,  in  their  fleshy  and  massive  outline, 
abundant  marks  of  habitual  reflection  and  intellectual  occu- 
pation. The  streak  of  the  unfaded  rose  still  enlivens  his 
cheeks.  When  animated  during  a  speech  his  comely  Saxon 
features  brighten  into  unmistakable  beauty,  and  when  seen 
in  the  profile  are  even  finer  than  when  viewed  from  the 
front.  The  whole  has  an  expression  of  fine  intellectual  dig- 
nity, candour,  serenity,  and  lofty,  gentlemanly  repose." 

Mr.  Bright  was  a  philanthropist  in  the  true  sense  of  that 
term.  He  devoted  the  best  years  of  his  life  to  the  study  of 
the  causes  of  human  misery  and  degradation,  and  he  hon- 
estly advocated  such  measures  as  he  deemed  best  calculated 
to  ameliorate  the  condition  of  the  poor  and  oppressed.  But, 
he  at  the  same  time,  recognised  the  fact  that  property 
owners  have  rights  which  should  be  respected.  As  to  the 
wisdom  of  the  legislative  remedies  which  he  proposed  for 
the  cure  of  the  diseases  of  the  body  politic,  which  he  con- 
ceived to  exist,  there  is  a  wide  difference  of  opinion,  but  all 
agree  that  Mr.  Bright  was  sincere  in  his  convictions. 

Patriotism,  and  deep  earnestness,  were  the  chief  features 
of  Mr.  Bright's  strength  as  an  orator,  but  his  oratorical  suc- 
cess was  due  not  to  one  or  two  qualities,  but  to  a  combina- 
tion of  qualities  like  the  light  and  shade  of  a  picture.  His 
speeches  had  fervor,  force,  reason  and  passion,  and  touched 
the  heart,  conscience,  and  intellect,  of  his  hearers. 

His  memory  was  extraordinarily  tenacious,  and  allowed 
nothing  to  escape  which  he  had  once  given  due  considera- 
tion. His  information  upon  subjects  with  which  a  statesman 
should  be  familiar  is  said  to  have  been  wide  and  accurate. 

Although,  usually,  his  style  was  chaste  and  simple,  yet 
when  the  subject  permitted,  his  poetical  diction  imparted 
warmth  and  brilliancy  to  facts,  which  would  have  been  dull 
if  treated  by  a  less  skilful  speaker.  At  times,  however,  his 
language  was,  to  the  objects  of  his  attacks,  distressingly 
plain.  The  following  extract  from  a  speech  delivered  in 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  2/1 


1868  is  an  example  in  point.  Mr.  Bright  said  :  "  One  of  the 
candidates  for  the  inferior  position  of  minority  member  for 
Birmingham  complained  on  a  recent  occasion  that  I  had  not 
read  the  speeches  of  his  colleague  in  the  candidature,  and 
that  I  had  not,  in  duty  bound,  undertaken  to  answer  him. 
The  fact  is  I  am  too  busy  in  these  days  to  dwell  very  much 
on  works  of  fiction.  The  speeches  of  Mr.  Lloyd  are  what  I 
call  dull  fiction,  and  the  speeches  of  his  colleague,  though 
not  less  fiction,  are  certainly  of  a  more  sparkling  and 
sensational  character." 

Soon  after  his  death,  which  took  place  on  the  7th  day  of 
March,  1889,  the  following  tribute  was  paid  to  Mr.  Bright,  by 
his  political  associate  and  personal  friend,  Hon.  W.  E.  Glad- 
stone : 

Mr.  Gladstone,  upon  rising,  was  received  with  cheers.  He 
said  : 

"  Mr.  Bright  has  been,  to  a  very  remarkable  degree,  happy 
in  the  moment  of  his  removal  from  among  us.  He  lived  to 
see  the  triumph  of  almost  every  great  cause  to  which  he 
specially  devoted  his  heart  and  mind.  He  has  established  a 
special  claim  to  the  admiration  of  those  from  whom  he  dif- 
fered through  his  long  political  life  by  marked  concurrence 
with  them  upon  the  prominent  and  dominant  question  of 
the  hour.  ('  Hear  !  hear !  ')  While  he  has  in  that  way 
opened  the  minds  and  hearts  of  those  with  whom  he  dif- 
fered to  appreciation  of  his  merits  he  has  lost  nothing  by 
that  concord  with  them  on  the  particular  subjects  we  so 
much  represent.  Though  Mr.  Bright  came  to  be  separated 
from  the  great  bulk  of  the  liberals  on  the  Irish  question,  on 
no  single  occasion  has  there  been  any  word  of  disparage- 
ment. I  acknowledge  that  I  have  not,  through  my  whole 
political  life,  fully  embraced  the  character  of  Mr.  Bright  and 
the  value  of  that  character  to  the  country.  I  say  this  be- 
cause it  was  at  the  particular  epoch  of  the  Crimean  war  that 
I  came  more  to  understand  than  before  the  position  held  by 
him  and  some  of  his  friends  and  the  hold  they  had  laid  upon 
the  confidence  of  the  people.  I  was  one  of  those  who  did 
not  agree  with  the  particular  views  he  took  of  the  Crimean 


272  HISTORY   OF  ORATORY. 


contest,  but  felt  profoundly,  and  never  ceased  to  feel  what 
must  have  been  the  moral  elevation  of  men,  who,  nurtured 
all  their  lives  in  the  temple  of  popular  approval,  could  at  a 
moment's  notice  consent  to  part  with  the  whole  of  that 
favour  they  enjoy,  which  opponents  might  think  the  very 
breath  of  their  nostrils.  ('  Hear !  hear  !  ')  They  accepted 
undoubted  unpopularity,  for  that  war  commanded  the  enor- 
mous approval  of  the  people.  It  was  at  that  time  that, 
although  we  had  known  much  of  Mr.  Bright,  we  learned 
more.  We  had  known  of  his  great  mental  gifts,  his  courage, 
his  consistency,  and  his  splendid  eloquence.  We  had  not 
known  how  high  was  the  moral  tone  of  those  popular  lead- 
ers, and  what  splendid  examples  they  could  set  their  con- 
temporaries. 

"  Among  other  gifts  Mr.  Bright  was  delighted  to  be  one 
of  the  chief  guardians  of  the  purity  of  the  English  tongue. 
('  Hear  !  hear  ! ')  He  knew  how  the  character  of  a  nation  is 
associated  with  its  language.  He  was  enabled,  as  an  Eng- 
lishman professedly  attached  to  his  country,  the  tongue  of 
the  people  being  to  him  almost  an  object  of  worship,  to  pre- 
serve the  purity  of  the  language  of  Shakespeare  and  Milton. 
(Cheers.) 

"  Another  circumstance  of  his  career  is  better  known  to 
me  than  to  any  other  person  present.  Everybody  is  aware 
that  office  had  no  attraction  for  him.  But  few  can  be  aware 
what  extra  efforts  were  required  to  induce  him  to  become  a 
servant  of  the  Crown.  In  the  crisis  of  1868,  when  the  fate 
of  the  Irish  Church  hung  in  the  balance,  it  was  my  duty  to 
propose  to  Mr.  Bright  that  he  become  a  Minister.  I  never 
undertook  so  difficult  a  task.  From  1 1  o'clock  at  night  until 
I  o'clock  in  the  morning  we  steadily  debated  the  subject.  It 
was  only  at  the  last  moment  that  he  found  it  possible  to  set 
aside  the  repugnance  he  felt  at  doing  anything  that  might  in 
the  eyes  of  any  one,  even  of  the  more  ignorant  class  of  his 
countrymen,  appear  to  detract  in  the  slightest  degree  from 
that  lofty  independence  of  character  which  I  have  men- 
tioned, and  which  never  throughout  his  career  was  held  in 
doubt. 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  2/3 


"  It  was  a  happy  lot  to  unite  so  many  attractive  qualities. 
If  I  had  to  dwell  upon  them  alone  I  should  present  a  daz- 
zling picture  to  the  world.  It  was  a  happier  lot  to  teach 
moral  lessons  by  simplicity,  consistency,  unfailing  courage, 
and  constancy  of  life,  thus  presenting  a  combination  of  qual- 
ities that  carried  us  to  a  higher  atmosphere.  ('  Hear  !  hear! ') 
His  sympathies  were  not  strong  only,  but  active  ;  not  sym- 
pathies awaiting  calls  to  be  made  upon  them,  but  sympathies 
of  a  man  seeking  objects  upon  which  to  bestow  the  inesti- 
mable advantages  of  eloquence  and  courage.  In  Ireland,  when 
support  of  the  Irish  cause  was  rare  ;  in  India,  when  support 
of  the  native  cause  was  rarer  still ;  in  America,  at  the  time 
when  Mr.  Bright,  foreseeing  the  ultimate  issue  of  the  great 
struggle  of  1861,  stood  as  the  representative  of  an  exceed- 
ingly small  portion  of  the  educated  community  of  the  coun- 
try, although  undoubtedly  representing  a  large  part  of  the 
national  sentiment  ('  Hear !  hear  !  ')  ;  in  all  these  cases  Mr. 
Bright  went  far  outside  the  necessities  of  his  calling.  What- 
ever touched  him  as  a  man  of  the  great  Anglo-Saxon  race, 
whatever  touched  him  as  a  subject,  obtained,  unasked,  his 
sincere,  earnest,  and  enthusiastic  aid.  ('  Hear  !  hear  !  ')  All 
causes  having  his  powerful  advocacy  made  a  distinct  advance 
in  the  estimation  of  the  world  and  distinct  progress  toward 
triumphant  success.  Thus  it  has  come  about  that  he  is  en- 
titled to  a  higher  -eulogy  than  is  due  to  success.  Of  mere 
success,  indeed,  he  was  a  conspicuous  example.  In  intellect 
he  might  claim  a  most  distinguished  place.  But  his  character 
lies  deeper  than  intellect,  deeper  than  eloquence,  deeper 
than  anything  that  can  be  described  or  that  can  be  seen 
upon  the  surface.  The  supreme  eulogy  that  is  his  due  is 
that  he  elevated  political  life  to  the  highest  point — to  a 
loftier  standard  than  it  had  ever  reached.  He  has  bequeathed 
to  his  country  a  character  that  can  not  only  be  made  a  sub- 
ject for  admiration  and  gratitude,  but — and  I  do  not  ex- 
aggerate when  I  say  it  —  that  can  become  an  object  of 
reverential  contemplation.  In  the  encomiums  that  come 
from  every  quarter  there  is  not  a  note  of  dissonance.  I  do 
not  know  of  any  statesman  of  my  time  who  had  the  happi- 


2/4  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


ness  of  receiving,  on  removal  from  this  passing  world,  the 
honour  of  approval  at  once  so  enthusiastic,  so  universal,  and 
so  unbroken.  ('  Hear  !  hear  ! ')  Yet  none  could  better  dis- 
pense with  the  tributes  of  the  moment,  because  the  triumphs 
of  his  life  were  recorded  in  the  advance  of  his  country  and 
of  its  people.  His  name  is  indelibly  written  in  the  annals  of 
Time  and  on  the  hearts  of  the  great  and  overspreading  race 
to  which  he  belonged,  whose  wide  extension  he  rejoiced  to 
see,  and  whose  power  and  prominence  he  believed  to  be  full 
of  promise  and  glory  for  the  best  interests  of  mankind." 

Mr.  Bright's  death  made  a  profound  impression  in  all 
circles  of  society.  He  was  respected  and  beloved  by  men 
of  all  parties. 

Disraeli. — Volumes  have  been,  and  many  more  will  be, 
filled  with  criticisms  upon  the  character  and  public  life,  of 
that  remarkable  statesman — Mr.  Benjamin  Disraeli.  It  is 
the  author's  purpose,  however,  to  treat  of  him  merely  as 
a  political  orator.  He  was  undoubtedly  gifted  with  the 
highest  oratorical  talents. 

His  writings  and  speeches  added  new  treasures  to  English 
literature.  They  did  something  more  than  amuse.  Many 
things  that  he  said,  posterity  will  not  willingly  let  die. 

Mr.  Disraeli  was  born  in  London,  December  21,  1805. 
He  was  taught  chiefly  by  private  tutors. 

It  was  his  original  intention  to  study  law,  but  after  spend- 
ing three  years  in  the  office  of  an  eminent  solicitor  in  Lon- 
don, he  decided  to  devote  his  life  to  politics  and  literature. 

When  only  twenty  years  of  age,  his  novel,  Vivian  Grey, 
was  published.  It  immediately  brought  him  into  notice,  and 
won  for  him  many  flattering  social  attentions.  Lady  Bless- 
ington's  description  to  Mr. Willis  of  Mr.  Disraeli's  first  appear- 
ance in  her  drawing-room,  is  thus  given  by  that  author : 

"  Disraeli,  the  elder,  came  here  with  his  son  the  other 
night.  It  would  have  delighted  you  to  see  the  old  man's 
pride  in  him,  and  the  son's  respect  for  his  father.  Disraeli, 
the  elder,  lives  in  the  country,  about  twenty  miles  from 
town ;  seldom  comes  up  to  London,  and  leads  a  life  of 
retired  leisure,  each  day  hoarding  up  and  dispensing  forth 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  2?$ 


treasures  of  literature.  He  is  courtly,  yet  urbane,  and  im- 
presses one  at  once  with  confidence  in  his  goodness.  In 
his  manner,  Disraeli,  the  younger,  is  quite  the  character  of 
Vivian  Grey,  full  of  genius  and  eloquence,  with  extreme 
good  nature  and  perfect  frankness  of  character." 

After  travelling  in  the  East  for  a  considerable  length  of 
time,  young  Disraeli  gave  his  attention  almost  exclusively 
to  politics  for  some  years. 

Disraeli  was  an  extremely  courageous  man,  and  when  he 
got  into  a  controversy  with  his  political  opponents,  and  strong 
language  was  applied  to  him,  he  usually  clothed  his  replies 
in  vigorous  English.  In  1835,  while  making  a  canvass  for  a 
seat  in  parliament,  as  a  conservative,  he  publicly  denounced 
the  celebrated  Daniel  O'Connell  as  a  "  bloody  traitor."  To 
this  O'Connell  replied  that  Disraeli  was  a  "  lineal  descendant 
of  the  blasphemous  thief  who  died  upon  the  cross."  Mr. 
Disraeli,  immediately,  challenged  Morgan  O'Connell,  but  the 
challenge  was  not  accepted,  Disraeli  was  bound  over  to  keep 
the  peace,  and  the  controversy  ended. 

A  few  years  later  when  he  obtained  a  seat  in  parliament, 
he  gave  the  following  description  of  Sir  Robert  Peel's 
speeches :  "  They  are  dreary  pages  of  interminable  talk  ; 
full  of  predictions  falsified,  pledges  broken,  calculations  that 
had  gone  wrong,  and  budgets  that  had  blown  up.  And 
this  not  relieved  by  a  single  original  thought,  a  single  gen- 
erous impulse,  or  a  single  happy  expression." 

When  Lord  Beaconsfield  made  his  first  speech,  in  the 
House  of  Commons,  it  was  met  by  opposition  and  ridicule, 
and  at  last  drowned  in '  uproar.  Stopping  in  the  middle  of 
a  sentence,  he  lifted  his  hand  and  said,  in  the  full  tones  of  a 
voice  which  rose  above  the  tumult : 

"  I  have  begun  several  times  many  things,  and  yet  have 
often  succeeded  at  last.  I  will  sit  down  now,  but  the  time 
will  come  when  you  shall  hear  me  !  " 

Afterward  when  speaking  of  this  incident  to  his  constitu- 
ents he  said : 

"  Was  I  to  yield  to  this  insulting  derision  like  a  child  or  a 
poltroon  ?  No.  When  I  sat  down  I  sent  them  my  defiance. 


2/6  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


There  are  emergencies  when  it  becomes  necessary  to  show 
that  a  man  will  not  be  crushed.  I  trust  I  showed,  under 
unparalleled  interruption,  the  spirit  of  a  man,  and  the  gene- 
rosity of  a  combatant  who  does  not  soon  lose  his  temper." 

At  the  death  of  Lord  G.  Bentinck  he  became  the  acknow- 
ledged leader  of  the  Conservatives  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons. Under  Lord  Derby,  he  acted  for  a  short  period  as 
Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer.  In  1868  he  became  First 
Lord  of  the  Treasury,  which  position  he  held  also  for  a  few 
months.  In  1874,  Disraeli  became  Prime  Minister  at  the 
head  of  the  Conservative  Government,  for  the  first  time. 

Disraeli's  face  was  inscrutable.  At  critical  moments  hun- 
dreds of  keen  eyes  were  turned  towards  that  face  to  read,  if 
possible,  something  of  his  thoughts,  but  never  once,  not 
even  in  the  most  exciting  crisis  of  personal  or  political  con- 
flict, did  the  face  unwittingly  relax,  so  that  friend  or  foe 
could  read  aught  there.  His  face  was  truly  remarkable, 
sphinx-like,  and  unfathomable.  His  courage  in  the  parlia- 
mentary contests  in  which  he  was  engaged  was  of  the  high- 
est order.  He  was  a  most  excellent  leader.  He  had  perfect 
command  of  his  temper,  and  he  knew  how  to  encourage  his 
followers  and  to  arouse  them  to  enthusiasm. 

As  an  orator  Mr.  Disraeli  was,  in  some  respects,  superior 
to  any  of  his  contemporaries.  His  self-possession,  which 
nothing  could  disturb  ;  his  terse,  epigrammatic  replies,  when 
interrupted  by  questions ;  his  keen,  mercilessly  sarcastic 
attacks  upon  his  assailants  when  provoked  ;  his  wonderful 
command  of  language,  and  fluency  of  speech  rendered  him 
one  of  the  most  effective  parliamentary  orators  of  any  age 
or  nation. 

It  has  been  said  by  some  of  his  critics  that  the  weakest 
points  in  his  oratory  were  a  lack  of  earnestness  and  sincere 
conviction,  but  judging  from  the  fairest  and  most  impartial 
accounts  which  have  been  given  of  his  speeches  the  accusa- 
tion is  not  well-founded,  when  applied  to  matter,  or  manner. 

His  speeches  were  instructive,  convincing,  and  persuasive, 
and  had  a  prodigious  effect  upon  the  people  of  England  as 
long  as  he  remained  in  public  life. 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  2JJ 


Mr.  Disraeli,  when  the  occasion  demanded  it,  was  not 
only  a  powerful,  and  logical  speaker,  but  exceedingly 
pathetic,  as  well.  When  President  Lincoln  was  so  foully 
assassinated,  the  speech  of  Mr.  Disraeli,  of  all  those  made, 
the  world  over,  was  the  most  pathetic  and  touching,  by  far, 
and  brought  tears  to  the  eyes  of  thousands. 

The  following  remarks  upon  Mr.  Disraeli's  oratory  by  a 
writer  in  the  Gentleman  s  Magazine  are  interesting  : 

"  When  he  rises  to  speak  he  generally  rests  his  hand  for  a 
moment  upon  the  table,  but  it  is  only  for  a  moment,  for  he 
invariably  endeavors  to  gain  the  ear  of  his  audience  by  mak- 
ing a  point,  at  the  outset,  and  the  attitude  which  he  finds 
most  conducive  to  the  happy  delivery  of  points  is  to  stand 
balancing  himself  upon  his  feet  with  his  hand  in  his  coat- 
tail  pockets.  In  this  position,  with  his  head  hung  down  as 
if  he  were  mentally  debating  how  best  to  express  a  thought 
that  had  just  occurred  to  his  mind,  Mr.  Disraeli  slowly 
utters  the  polished  and  poisoned  sentence  over  which  he 
has  spent  laborious  hours  in  the  closet. 

"  But  the  merest  tyro  in  the  House  knows  a  moment  be- 
forehand when  Mr.  Disraeli  is  approaching  what  he  regards 
as  a  convenient  place  in  his  speech  for  dropping  in  the 
phrase-gem  he  pretends  to  have  just  found  in  an  odd  corner 
of  his  mind.  They  see  him  leading  up  to  it ;  they  note  the 
disappearance  of  his  hands  in  the  direction  of  the  coat-tail 
pockets,  sometimes  in  search  of  the  pocket-handkerchief, 
which  is  brought  out  and  shaken  with  a  light  and  careless  air, 
but  most  often  to  extend  the  coat-tails,  whilst  with  body 
gently  rocked  to  and  fro,  and  an  affected  hesitancy  of  speech, 
the  speaker  produces  his  ban  mot.  For  the  style  of  repartee 
in  which  Mr.  Disraeli  indulges— which  may  be  described 
generally  as  a  sort  of  solemn  chaffing,  varied  by  strokes  of 
polished  sarcasm — this  manner  is  admirable,  in  proportion 
as  it  has  been  seldom  observed.  But  it  is  monotonous  to  a 
degree  perhaps  exceeded  only  by  that  of  Mr.  Cardwell,  who, 
during  his  last  speech  on  the  Army  Estimates,  was  timed 
with  a  watch,  and  found  to  go  through  the  following  series 
of  oratorical  performances  with  the  regularity  of  a  pendu- 


2j8  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


lum,  preserving  throughout  an  hour  the  exact  time  allotted 
at  the  outset  to  each  manoeuvre  :  First,  he  advanced  to  the 
table  and  rested  upon  it,  leaning  his  left  arm  upon  the  edge  ; 
secondly,  he  stood  bolt  upright  and  retired  half  a  pace  from 
the  table,  letting  his  arms  hang  stiffly  by  his  side  ;  thirdly, 
he  put  both  hands  out  and  arranged  the  papers  before  him  ; 
fourthly,  he  retired  a  full  pace,  folded  his  hands  behind  him 
under  his  coat-tails,  and  again  stood  bolt  upright,  looking 
like  an  undertaker  who  had  called  for  orders.  This  latter 
was  his  favourite  position,  and  he  remained  in  it  for  the 
longest  period.  But  when  the  time  came  to  forsake  it,  he 
advanced,  leaned  his  arm  upon  the  table,  and  again  went 
through  the  full  round  of  graceful  action.  Mr.  Disraeli  is 
not  as  this,  etc."  This  account,  and  many  others  of  a  similar 
character,  have  done  Mr.  Disraeli  great  injustice,  and  were 
evidently  penned  by  his  political  enemies,  who  hoped  to 
lessen  his  influence  by  attacking  him  with  the  keen  weapon 
of  satire.  But  he  was  more  than  a  match  for  any  of  his 
assailants  when  he  chose  to  answer  their  attacks.  It  is 
greatly  to  be  regretted  that  public  men  should  be  subjected 
to  such  unfair  criticisms.  Critics,  though  hostile,  should 
have  too  much  self-respect  to  lie  outright  in  order  to  bring 
unmerited  reproach  and  public  contempt  upon  the  object 
of  their  envenomed  assaults  ;  but  the  discriminating  few, 
the  wisest  and  best  men,  always  loathe  and  detest  such 
malignancy.  Nothing  has  impaired,  to  a  greater  extent,  the 
influence  of  the  press  than  the  publication  of  scurrilous  ar- 
ticles which  secretly  aim  to  compass  the  ruin  or  injury  of 
those  who  have  incurred  the  enmity  of  the  writers. 

Few  statesmen  of  ancient  or  modern  times  have  been 
more  witty  and  humourous  than  Mr.  Disraeli  was  when  he 
chose  to  be.  In  a  speech  to  the  conservatives  at  Glasgow, 
November,  1873,  alluding  to  the  Abyssinian  war  he  said  : 
"  I  should  myself  from  my  own  individual  experience  be 
most  careful  not  to  follow  the  example  which  one  of  the 
most  distinguished  members  of  the  present  Administration 
pursued  with  respect  to  us  when  we  had  to  encounter  the 
Abyssinian  difficulty.  When  I  introduced  the  necessity  of 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  ENGLAND.  2/9 


interference  in  order  to  escape  from  difficulties  which  we 
had  inherited  and  not  made,  Mr.  Lowe  rose  in  parliament 
and  violently  attacked  the  Government  of  the  day  for  the 
absurdity,  the  folly,  the  extreme  imprudence  of  attempting 
any  interference  in  the  affairs  of  Abyssinia.  .  .  .  He 
described  the  horrors  of  the  country,  and  the  terrors  of  the 
clime.  He  said  there  was  no  possibility  by  which  any  suc- 
cess could  be  obtained,  and.  the  people  of  England  must 
prepare  themselves  for  the  most  horrible  catastrophe.  He 
described  not  only  the  fatal  influence  of  the  climate,  but,  I 
remember,  he  described  one  pink  fly  alone  which  he  said  would 
eat  up  the  whole  British  army.  He  was  as  vituperative  as 
the  insects  of  Abyssinia." 

When  Lords  Beaconsfield  and  Salisbury  returned  from 
Berlin  in  1878,  a  dinner  in  their  honour  was  given  at 
Knightsbridge  by  members  of  the  conservative  party,  more 
than  five  hundred  being  present.  On  this  occasion,  Lord 
Beaconsfield,  in  the  course  of  his  speech,  referred  as  follows 
to  some  criticisms  of  Mr.  Gladstone  :  "  I  was  astonished  to 
learn  that  the  Convention  of  Constantinople  has  been  de- 
scribed as  '  an  insane  convention.'  That  is  a  strong  epithet, 
but  I  do  not  pretend  to  be  as  competent  a  judge  of  insanity 
as  the  right  honourable  gentleman  who  used  it.  I  will  not 
say  to  the  right  honourable  gentleman  what  I  had  occasion 
to  say  in  the  House  of  Lords  this  year,  Naviget  A uticyram ; 
but  I  would  put  this  issue  to  an  intelligent  English  jury — 
which  do  you  believe  most  likely  to  enter  into  an  insane 
-convention,  a  body  of  English  gentlemen,  honoured  by  the 
favour  of  their  sovereign  and  the  confidence  of  their  fellow 
subjects,  managing  your  affairs  for  five  years,  I  hope  with 
prudence  and  not  altogether  without  success,  or  a  sophistical 
rhetorician,  inebriated  with  the  exuberance  of  his  own  ver- 
bosity, and  gifted  with  an  egotistical  imagination,  that  can 
at  all  times  command  an  interminable  and  inconsistent  series 
of  arguments  to  malign  his  opponents  and  to  glorify  himself." 

Young  men  should  learn  from  the  life  of  Lord  Beacons- 
field  that  "  Never  despair  "  is  a  good  motto,  and  that  diffi- 
culties "  ought  to  be  no  more  than  the  threads  of  gossamer, 


280  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


sparkling  with  dew-drops,  which  we  break  away  by  thousands 
as  we  stride  through  the  morning  fields." 

Even  from  boyhood  Lord  Beaconsfield  determined,  if 
possible,  to  become  Prime  Minister  of  England. 

He  loved  to  encourage  young  men,  and  at  Manchester, 
speaking  to  youths,  he  said  : 

"  I  give  to  them  that  counsel  which  I  have  ever  given  to 
youth.  I  tell  them  to  aspire.  I  believe  that  the  youth  who 
does  not  look  up,  will  look  down ;  and  that  the  spirit  which 
does  not  dare  to  soar,  is  destined  perhaps,  to  grovel" 

He  did  not  urge  them,  however,  to  a  selfish  ambition. 
He  said  :  "  You  will  be  called  to  great  duties.  Remember 
what  has  been  done. for  you.  Remember  that  when  the  in- 
heritance devolves  upon  you,  you  are  not  only  to  enjoy,  but 
to  improve.  You  will  one  day  succeed  to  the  high  places  of 
this  great  community.  Recollect  those  who  lighted  the  way 
for  you  ;  and  when  you  have  wealth,  when  you  have  au- 
thority, when  you  have  power,  let  it  not  be  said  that  you 
were  deficient  in  public  virtue  or  public  spirit.  When  the 
torch  is  delivered  to  you,  do  you  also  light  the  path  of 
human  progress  to  educated  man." 

Lord  Beaconsfield  delivered  an  address  to  the  members  of 
the  Manchester  Athenaeum  on  the  23d  of  October,  1844. 
In  that  address  occurs  the  following  beautiful  and  striking 
passage  upon  knowledge :  "  It  is  knowledge  that  equalises 
the  social  condition  of  man — that  gives  to  all,  however  dif- 
ferent their  political  position, passions  which  are  in  common, 
and  enjoyments  which  are  universal.  Knowledge  is  like  the 
mystic  ladder  in  the  patriarch's  dream.  Its  base  rests  on  the 
primeval  earth,  its  crest  is  lost  in  the  shadowy  splendour  of 
the  empyrean  ;  while  the  great  authors,  who,  for  traditionary 
ages  have  held  the  chain  of  science  and  philosophy,  of 
poesy  and  erudition,  are  the  angels  ascending  and  descend- 
ing the  sacred  scale,  and  maintaining  as  it  were,  the  com- 
munication between  man  and  heaven.  This  feeling  is  so 
universal  that  there  is  no  combination  of  society  in  any  age 
in  which  it  has  not  developed  itself.  It  may,  indeed,  be 
partly  restrained  under  despotic  governments,  under  pecu- 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  28 1 


liar  systems  of  retarded  civilisation  ;  but  it  is  a  consequence 
as  incidental  to  the  spirit  and  the  genius  of  the  Christian 
civilisation  of  Europe,  as  that  the  day  shall  follow  night  and 
the  stars  should  shine  according  to  their  laws  and  order." 

The  author  believes  that  the  passage  above  quoted,  is 
alone  sufficient  proof  of  the  great  Disraeli's  goodness  of 
heart,  and  of  his  ardent  love  of  all  mankind,  and  his  earnest 
wish  that  their  condition  should  be  improved  socially,  men- 
tally, morally,  and  materially.  Disraeli's  ambition  was  a 
noble  one.  He  did  not  covet  fame  or  fortune.  He  was 
always  indifferent  to  money,  and  neglectful  of  his  pecuniary 
interests.  He  played  a  great  part  in  the  history  of  his  coun- 
try, and  he  played  it  well.  When  we  think  of  it,  his  career 
was  wonderful.  His  rise  from  comparative  poverty  and 
obscurity  to  the  greatest  height  to  which  a  subject  can 
attain  in  England,  and  the  qualities  he  displayed  in  pros- 
perity and  adversity, — these  are  things  which  must  command 
the  sympathy  and  admiration  of  the  wise  and  the  good  of  all 
future  ages.  His  career  was  romantic,  but  it  is  a  romance  that 
teaches  many  noble  and  useful  lessons,  and  that  will  have 
power  to  fire  many  a  young  soul  with  the  highest  ambition. 

Gladstone. — It  is  not  the  author's  purpose  to  treat  of  Mr. 
Gladstone  as  a  man  of  letters,  nor  as  a  statesman.  He  has 
been  more  highly  praised,  and  more  severely  censured,  than 
any  statesman  of  this  century.  His  friends  call  him  the 
grand  old  man,  and  his  enemies  the  grand  -old  woman.  By 
many  of  his  admirers,  his  political  sagacity  is  thought  to  be 
phenomenal,  and  he  is  considered  by  them  the  prince  of 
modern  statesmen.  He  is  undoubtedly  one  of  the  ablest 
men  of  modern  times. 

Mr.  Gladstone  is  an  earnest  Christian,  while  recognising 
the  prophetic  element  in  Homer,  and  enraptured  by  his  ex- 
quisite creations,  and  no  one  has  described  them  with  a 
more  vivid  and  brightly  tinctured  pencil,  he  yet  bows  before 
the  higher  poetic  genius  of  Isaiah,  and  sees  in  the  marvellous 
ideals  of  Christian  poets,  from  Dante  to  Tennyson,  a  more 
perfect  bloom  of  the  human  mind,  and  character. 

The  Right  Hon.  William  Ewart  Gladstone  was  born  at 


282  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


Liverpool,  on  the  2pth  of  December,  1809.  He  is  the  fourth 
son  of  the  late  Sir  John  Gladstone,  a  Liverpool  merchant. 
He  studied  at  Eton  and  Christ  Church,  Oxford,  and  he 
entered  the  House  of  Commons'  as  member  for  Newark  in 
the  Conservative  interest.  Sir  Robert  Peel,  in  1834,  ap- 
pointed him  Under-Secretary  for  the  Colonies.  In  the  revision 
of  the  British  tariff,  in  1842,  his  defence  of  the  policy  of  the 
government,  and  his  complete  mastery  of  its  details  led  to 
its  being  passed  almost  without  alteration  in  both  Houses. 
In  1851  he  left  the  Conservatives,  and  has  ever  since  ap- 
peared on  the  Liberal  side. 

He  has  held  office  as  follows  :  Vice-President  of  the  Board 
of  Trade,  and  Master  of  the  Mint,  from  September,  1841,  to 
May,  1843  »  President  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  from  May, 
1843, to  February,  1845  »  Secretary  of  State  for  the  Colonies, 
1846  ;  appointed  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  in  Lord  Aber- 
deen's ministry,  28th  December,  1852  ;  resigned  along  with 
the  Aberdeen  ministry,  3Oth  January,  1855  ;  nekl  the  same 
office  under  Lord  Palmerston  5th  February,  resigned  2ist 
February,  1855  ;  ne^  office  as  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer, 
from  i8th  June,  1859,  to  5tn  July>  1866;  represented  South 
Lancashire  in  parliament  from,  1865  to  1868  ;  was  elected 
for  Greenwich  in  November,  1868,  and  was  elected  First 
Lord  of  the  Treasury  on  8th  December,  of  the  same  year. 
On  March  I,  1869,  he  introduced  his  measure  for  the  dis- 
establishment of  the  Irish  Church,  unfolding  in  a  speech, 
which  even  Disraeli  praised,  the  details  of  his  comprehensive 
scheme.  The  passage  of  the  bill  which  was  carried  through 
the  House  in  less  than  five  months,  mainly  by  the  energy  of 
Mr.  Gladstone,  has  been  pronounced  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant legislative  achievements  of  modern  times. 

During  his  leadership  of  the  Liberal  party  other  measures 
of  great  importance  were  passed,  the  Elementary  Education 
Act,  the  abolition  of  purchase  in  the  army,  the  removal  of 
the  University  tests,  and  the  Trades-Union  bill. 

Mr.  Gladstone  resigned  the  leadership  of  his  party  after 
forty-two  years  of  public  life,  but  in  1879,  ne  accepted  the  in- 
vitation of  the  Liberal  electors  of  Mid-Lothian,  to  stand  as 


Ok  A  TOR  Y  IN  ENGLA  ND.  283 


their  candidate,  though  the  district  was  a  stronghold  of 
Conservatism  and  his  opponent  the  son  of  the  Duke  of 
Buccleugh.  His  aggressive  campaign  astonished  the  United 
Kingdom;  the  result  of  the  elections  of  1880  proved  that 
his  resistless  eloquence  had  reached  the  popular  heart.  The 
Liberal  majority  in  the  new  parliament  was  114,  and  the 
great  commoner,  to  whom  the  revolution  was  due,  was  justly 
called  to  be  prime  minister. 

In  1883  Gladstone  had  given  up  the  office  of  Chancellor 
of  the  Exchequer,  but  the  government  in  every  crisis  was 
obliged  to  depend  on  his  oratory.  In  1886  Mr.  Gladstone 
became  prime  minister  a  third  time,  and  his  course  since 
that  time  is  familiar  to  the  world. 

In  his  life  of  Gladstone,  an  interesting  work,  which  every 
person  should  read,  Mr.  G.  R.  Emerson  gives  the  follow- 
ing sketch  of  his  career  at  Eton  and  Oxford :  "  Mr.  John 
Gladstone,  we  may  be  tolerably  certain,  was  not  slow  to 
discover  the  early  promise  of  ability  given  by  his  fourth 
son,  who,  in  September,  1821,  as  yet  wanting  three  months 
of  completing  his  twelfth  year,  was  sent  to  Eton.  He  was 
a  robust  and  active,  as  well  as  a  clever  boy,  and  made  light 
of  many  of  the  hardships  which  have  made  public  school 
life  very  unpleasant  to  weak  or  timid  lads.  Gladstone  soon 
showed  that  he  was  well  able  to  take  his  own  part ;  and 
when  it  was  found  that  he  was  not  only  one  of  the  most 
active  and  successful  in  all  school  sports,  but  also  one  of  the 
very  cleverest  of  the  boys,  his  popularity  was  assured. 

"  He  remained  about  six  years  at  Eton,  and  there  formed 
some  lasting  friendships.  One  of  his  school-fellows,  of  the 
same  age  as  himself,  was  George  Augustus  Selwyn,  after- 
wards the  famous  missionary  bishop  of  New  Zealand,  and 
who  died  Bishop  of  Lichfield.  Francis  Hastings  Doyle, 
who  in  after  life  became  Professor  of  Poetry  at  Oxford,  was 
also  at  school  at  the  time  ;  and  another  of  the  Eton  boys  of 
Gladstone's  time,  but  two  years  younger  than  he,  was  the 
modern  Lycidas,  Arthur  Henry  Hallam,  whose  friendship 
with  Tennyson  and  early  death  produced  one  of  the  noblest 
poems  of  our  time,  In  Memoriam.  Gladstone  soon  distin- 


284  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


guished  himself  in  the  school  by  his  success  in  Latin  versifi- 
cation ;  and  it  was  not  likely  that  he  would  remain  unaffected 
by  the  literary  traditions  of  the  school.  George  Canning— 
in  the  estimation  of  all  the  Gladstone  family  a  very  Admira- 
ble Crichton — had,  when  he  was  an  Eton  boy,  contributed 
to  a  school  magazine  ;  so  had  John  Hookham  Frere — the 
author  of  the  Whistlecraft  Papers  (which  suggested  to  Byron 
the  style  of  Beppo  and  Don  Juan),  and  father  of  Sir  Bartle 
Frere — and  Winthrop  Mackworth  Praed.  The  Etonian,  to 
which  the  latter  contributed,  was  published  at  Windsor  by 
Charles  Knight,  at  that  time  a  bookseller  and  printer  in  the 
royal  town  ;  and  so  much  talent  was  brought  to  light  in  its 
pages,  that  it  was  made  the  basis  of  another  magazine,  to 
which  Macaulay  and  others  who  did  not  belong  to  Eton  con- 
tributed. In  the  last  year  of  Gladstone's  residence  at  the 
school,  he  was  one  of  the  projectors  of  the  Eton  Miscellany, 
and  certainly  the  most  prolific  contributor,  young  Selwyn 
ranking  next.  Thirteen  papers  from  the  pen  of  William 
Ewart  Gladstone  appeared  in  the  first  volume  ;  among  them 
a  poem  in  well  balanced  heroic  couplets,  celebrating  the 
achievements  of  Richard  Coeur  de  Lion,  and  Gnatimoziris 
Death  Song,  for  the  suggestion  of  which  he  was  probably  in- 
debted to  his  mother's  relative,  Principal  Robertson,  in  his 
account  of  the  conquest  of  Mexico  by  Cortez.  To  the  second 
volume  of  the  Miscellany  he  made  seventeen  contributions. 
Classical  literature  was,  of  course,  among  the  subjects  of  the 
papers.  At  a  very  early  period  the  Homeric  poems  appear 
to  have  powerfully  attracted  his  attention  ;  but  there  were 
also  articles,  professedly  humorous,  in  which  we  imagine  he 
was  less  successful.  The  title  of  one  paper  was  Eloquence, 
and  if  the  youth's  oratorical  powers  in  any  adequate  degree 
indicated  those  of  the  man,  he  was  assuredly  competent  to 
write  effectively  on  such  a  topic.  Probably  he  felt  a  confi- 
dence that  he  possessed  the  power,  '  the  applause  of  listen- 
ing senates  to  command,'  and,  indeed,  there  is  in  the  essay 
an  indication  of  an  ambition  which  is  not  unlike  Benjamin 
Disraeli's  day-dreams  of  his  Vivian  Grey  period.  Both 
youths  were  prophets,  inspired  by  the  consciousness  of  great 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  285 


abilities  and  faith  in  themselves.  *  A  successful  debut,'  wrote 
Gladstone  (in  his  eighteenth  year,  at  school  at  Eton),  '  an 
offer  from  the  minister,  a  Secretaryship  of  State,  and  even 
the  premiership  itself,  are  the  objects  which  form  the  vista 
along  which  a  young  visionary  loves  to  look.' 

"  In  1827  he  bade  farewell  to  Eton,  its  school-room  and 
playing  fields.  Few  of  the  pupils  at  that  famous  school 
were  so  well  grounded  in  the  classical  learning  chiefly  valued 
there.  He  continued  his  studies  for  about  two  years  as 
private  pupil  of  Dr.  Turner,  who  was  afterwards  appointed 
Bishop  of  Calcutta,  and  then  entered  as  student,  Christ 
Church  College,  Oxford.  Here  his  industry  was  enormous, 
and  even  in  the  vacation  he  scarcely  relaxed  his  ardour. 
One  writer,  describing  his  career  at  this  period,  says  :  '  No 
matter  where  he  was,  whether  in  college  rooms  or  country 
mansion,  from  10  A.M.  to  2  P.M.  no  one  ever  saw  William 
Ewart  Gladstone.  During  this  interval  he  was  invariably 
locked  up  with  his  books.  From  the  age  of  eighteen  till 
that  of  twenty-one,  he  never  neglected  studying  during 
these  particular  hours,  unless  he  happened  to  be  travelling  ; 
and  his  evening  ordeal  was  scarcely  less  severe.  Eight 
o'clock  saw  him  once  more  engaged  in  a  stiff  bout  with 
Aristotle,  or  plunged  deep  in  the  text  of  Thucydides.' 

"  In  one  respect  the  industrious  student  was  more  prudent 
than  many  of  his  fellows  and  competitors.  Throughout  his 
long  life  he  has  recognised  the  natural  alliance  of  the  physi- 
cal and  intellectual  portions  of  our  compound  being.  Natu- 
rally hardy  and  muscular,  he  cultivated  his  bodily  powers  by 
regular,  active  exercise,  and  his  high  moral  nature  preserved 
him  from  the  temptation  to  indulge  enervating  luxurious- 
ness.  Temperate  and  active,  trained  to  muscular  exertion, 
he  could  probably  have  outwalked  any  of  the  undergraduates 
of  his  college  as  easily  as  he  could  have  surpassed  most  of 
them  in  mental  acquirements.  A  brisk  walk  of  thirty  or 
forty  miles  was  a  small  matter  to  the  handsome,  well-knit 
young  student,  who  returned  from  it  with  a  refreshed  brain 
and  renewed  vitality  to  his  studies.  The  Oxford  Union, 
that  renowned  debating  society  where  so  many  of  our 


286  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


greatest  statesmen,  lawyers,  and  divines  trained  their  ora- 
torical powers  and  learned  their  first  lessons  in  practical 
politics  and  philosophy,  offered  great  attractions  to  Glad- 
stone. The  position  of  President  of  the  Union  was  justly 
looked  upon  as  conferring  a  high  honour,  due  to  acknow- 
ledged intellectual  power  and  oratorical  ability  ;  and  it  is 
worth  noting  that  seven  presidents  were  at  one  time  united 
in  one  of  the  administrations  of  which  Mr.  Gladstone  was 
the  chief.  He  had  only  been  a  member  of  the  university 
for  a  few  months  when  he  made  his  first  speech  at  the  Union 
on  the  nth  of  February,  1830.  He  was  afterwards  a  fre- 
quent speaker,  taking  the  Tory  view  of  public  questions. 
That  his  style  was  rather  rhetorically  ornate,  and  that  he 
made  frequent  reference  to  classical  examples  and  freely  re- 
sorted to  classical  quotations,  we  can  readily  suppose  ;  and 
that  he  was  fluent,  enthusiastic,  and  excitable  is  equally 
probable.  He  opposed  the  removal  of  Jewish  disabilities 
and  Parliamentary  Reform,  but  supported  Catholic  Emanci- 
pation. A  few  years  since,  he  referred  to  the  opinions  he 
had  held  in  these  Oxford  days  :  '  I  trace,'  he  said,  '  in  the 
education  of  "Oxford  of  my  own  time  one  great  defect. 
Perhaps  it  was  my  own  fault  ;  but  I  must  admit  that  I  did 
not  learn  when  at  Oxford  that  which  I  have  learned  since, 
namely,  to  set  a  due  value  on  the  imperishable  and  in- 
estimable principles  of  human  liberty.  The  temper  which 
I  think  too  much  prevailed  in  academic  circles  was  to  regard 
liberty  with  jealousy.' 

Mr.  Gladstone  has  given  much  of  his  time  to  "  inter- 
viewers." An  American  who  called  on  Mr.  Gladstone  gives 
a  very  interesting  account  of  his  visit.  He  chose  Sunday  as 
the  best  day  on  which  to  make  the  call,  because  Mr.  Glad- 
stone is  always  at  home  on  that  day.  He  says  : 

"  I  was  profoundly  surprised  and  impressed  when  I  was 
shown  into  the  library  at  Hawarden  to  find  Mr.  Gladstone 
reading  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  During  the  few  hours 
I  had  the  advantage  of  spending  in  his  company  I  was  more 
than  once  reminded  of  the  deep  piety  and  absolute  faith  of 
this  greatest  living  Englishman,  whose  pure  and  simple  life 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  287 


is  an  example  for  the  so-called  latter-day  philosophers  who 
spend  their  lives  in  attempting  to  pull  down  the  Temple  of 
God.  Like  all  English  gentlemen,  Mr.  Gladstone  is  thor- 
oughly well  bred,  and,  like  all  really  great  men,  he  is  per- 
fectly simple  and  natural  in  his  manners.  He  bore  his 
seventy-five  years  remarkably  well.  His  voice  was  full, 
strong,  and  rich  ;  his  hair,  although  white,  was  abundant, 
with  little  signs  of  baldness.  A  slight  stoop  in  his  shoulders 
was  the  only  indication  of  advanced  age  that  the  great  com- 
moner exhibited.  In  conversing  with  an  American  visitor, 
Mr.  Gladstone  would  naturally  speak  of  the  United  States, 
for  which  country  he  has  a  decided  admiration. 

"  '  America  has  a  magnificent  future/  he  said,  *  if  the 
American  people  are  only  true  to  their  possibilities.  Before 
the  close  of  the  twentieth  century  the  vast  continent  em- 
braced within  the  limits  of  the  United  States,  stretching 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  and  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
to  the  great  lakes  of  the  North,  will  be  the  home  of  300,000,- 
ooo  of  freemen,  representing  every  nation  upon  earth  ;  vaster 
in  extent  and  population  than  the  Roman  Empire  in  its 
palmiest  days,  but  free  from  the  danger  that  attended  the 
extension  of  that  empire  among  barbarous  peoples,  which 
was  the  primary  and  potent  cause  of  the  decline  and  fall  of 
the  greatness  of  Rome.  Every  true  Englishman  should  be 
proud  of  the  progress  of  the  United  States,  for  the  Ameri- 
cans are  our  kith  and  kin,  and  having  the  same  literature, 
the  same  language,  and  the  same  sturdy  love  for  political 
independence.  The  wrestling  of  Magna  Charta  from  King 
John  prepared  the  way  for  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  and 
the  Declaration  of  Independence.' 

"  '  It  is  strange  you  have  never  visited  the  United  States 
that  you  might  see  the  practical  working  of  Republican  in- 
stitutions, Mr.  Gladstone.'  '  Nothing  would  give  me  more 
pleasure,'  was  his  reply,  *  but  I  have  never  been  able  to  find 
the  time.  I  have  been  in  public  life  almost  uninterruptedly 
since  1832,  and  for  the  last  thirty-five  years  I  have  either 
been  in  office  or  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  opposition.' 

11 1  was  deeply  impressed  with   Mr.  Gladstone  from  a  per- 


288  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


sonal  point  of  view.  He  is  tall,  his  eyes  are  blue,  his  hands 
large,  his  feet  English,  you  know;  his  manners  gentle  but 
dignified,  and,  while  absolutely  free  from  affectation,  he  dis- 
plays an  ease  and  polish  which  we  expect  to  find  in  an  Eng- 
lish gentleman  of  his  political  and  social  position.  William 
E.  Gladstone  is  not  like  his  great  rival,  Disraeli,  a  dashing 
political  acrobat,  but  he  is  a  great  statesman,  possessing  a 
genius  capable  of  guiding  his  country  successfully  through 
one  of  the  most  critical  periods  of  her  history.  When  he 
leaves  the  scene  where  he  has  shone  so  long  and  so  bril- 
liantly, England  will  find  it  difficult  to  select  from  her  public 
men  one  capable  of  taking  the  place  of  this  Great  Old  Man." 
This  sketch  of  Mr.  Gladstone  would  be  incomplete  with- 
out the  following  interesting  account  of  his  oratorical  ability : 

Mr.  Gladstone  as  an  Orator? 

"  When  the  armies  of  political  parties  are  set  in  battle 
array,  Mr.  Gladstone's  transcendent  abilities  as  an  orator 
alone  have  full  play.  When,  before  rising  to  speak,  he  has 
definitely  made  up  his  mind  which  of  three  or  more  courses 
he  shall  take,  and  has  nothing  to  do  but  declare  his  col- 
ours, build  around  them  a  rampart  of  argument,  and  seek 
to  rally  to  them  halting  friends,  then  the  marvellous  clear- 
ness of  his  perception  and  his  unusual  ability  for  making 
dark  places  light  is  disclosed.  After  purporting  to  answer  a 
simple  question,  and  taking  a  quarter  of  an  hour  to  do  it  in, 
Mr.  Gladstone  has  sometimes  sat  down  leaving  the  House 
in  a  condition  of  dismayed  bewilderment,  hopelessly  at- 
tempting to  grope  its  way  through  the  intricacies  of  the 
sonorous  sentences  it  has  been  listening  to.  But  if  he  desires 
to  make  himself  understood,  there  is  no  one  who  can  better 
effect  the  purpose.  There  are  few  instances  of  a  Govern- 
ment measure  which  met  with  more  determined  and  di- 
versely motived  opposition  than  the  Irish  University  Act, 
introduced  in  the  session  of  1873.  It  is  a  matter  of  history 
that  it  broke  the  power  of  the  strongest  ministry  that  has 

1  Men  and  Manner  in  Parliament.  By  the  Member  for  the  Chiltern  Hun- 
dreds. 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  289 


ruled  England  in  these  latter  days.  The  provisions  of  the 
measure  were  singularly  intricate,  but  when  Mr.  Gladstone 
sat  down  after  speaking  for  upwards  of  three  hours  in 
explanation  of  the  measure,  he  had  not  only  made  it  clear 
from  preamble  to  schedule,  but  he  had  momentarily  talked 
the  House  of  Commons  over  into  the  belief  that  this  was  a 
bill  it  would  do  well  to  accept.  Mr.  Horsman  has  been 
much  laughed  at  because,  whilst  the  glamour  of  this  great 
speech  was  still  strong  upon  him,  he  wrote  an  enthusiastic 
letter  to  the  Times  hailing  Mr.  Gladstone  and  his  bill  as 
.among  the  most  notable  of  recent  dispensations  of  a  benefi- 
cent Providence,  words  which  he  subsequently  ate  in  the 
presence  of  a  crowded  House.  But  Mr.  Horsman  differed 
from  seven-eighths  of  the  House  of  Commons  only  in  this, 
that  he  put  pen  to  paper  whilst  he  was  yet  under  the  influ- 
ence of  the  orator's  spell,  whereas  the  rest  of  the  members 
contented  themselves  by  verbal  and  private  expressions  of 
opinion.  Mr.  Gladstone's  oratorical  manner  is  much  more 
strongly  marked  by  action  than  is  Mr.  Bright's.  He  empha- 
sises by  smiting  his  right  hand  in  the  open  palm  of  his  left ; 
by  pointing  his  finger  straight  out  at  his  adversary,  real  or 
representative ;  and,  in  his  hottest  moments,  by  beating  the 
table  with  his  clenched  hand.  Sometimes  in  answer  to 
cheers  he  turns  right  round  to  his  immediate  supporters  on 
the  benches  behind  him,  and  speaks  directly  to  them  ;  where- 
upon the  Conservatives,  who  hugely  enjoy  a  baiting  of  the 
emotionable  ex-Premier,  call  out  '  Order !  order  ! '  This 
call  seldom  fails  in  the  desired  effect  of  exciting  the  right 
honourable  gentleman's  irascibility,  and  when  he  loses  his 
temper  his  opponents  may  well  be  glad.  Mr.  Bright  always 
writes  out  the  peroration  of  his  speeches,  and  at  one  time 
was  accustomed  to  send  the  slip  of  paper  to  the  reporters. 
Mr.  Disraeli  sometimes  writes  out  the  whole  of  his  speeches. 
The  one  he  delivered  to  the  Glasgow  students  in  Novem- 
ber, 1873,  was  in  type  in  the  office  of  a  London  newspaper 
at  the  moment  the  right  honourable  gentleman  was  speaking 
at  the  university.  Mr.  Gladstone  never  writes  a  line  of  his 
speeches,  and  some  of  his  most  successful  ones  have  been 


290  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


made  in  the  heat  of  debate,  and  necessarily  without  prepara- 
tion. His  speech  in  winding  up  the  debate  on  the  Irish 
University  Bill  has  rarely  been  excelled  for  close  reasoning, 
brilliant  illustration,  and  powerful  eloquence ;  yet  if  it  be 
referred  to  it  will  be  seen  that  it  is  for  the  greater  and  best 
part  a  reply  to  the  speech  of  Mr.  Disraeli,  who  had  just  sat 
down,  yielding  the  floor  to  his  rival  half  an  hour  after  mid- 
night. Evidence  of  the  same  swift  reviewing  of  a  position, 
and  of  the  existence  of  the  same  power  of  instantly  mar- 
shalling arguments  and  illustrations,  and  sending  them  forth 
clad  in  a  panoply  of  eloquence,  is  apparent  in  Mr.  Gladstone's 
speech  when  commenting  on  Mr.  Disraeli's  announcement 
of  the  withdrawal  of  the  main  portion  of  the  Endowed 
Schools  Act  Amendment  Bill.  The  announcement,  and 
especially  the  manner  in  which  it  was  made,  was  a  surprise 
that  almost  stunned  and  momentarily  bewildered  the  House 
of  Commons.  Mr.  Gladstone  was  bound  to  speak,  and  to 
speak  the  moment  Mr.  Disraeli  resumed  his  seat.  He  had 
no  opportunity  to  take  counsel,  and  no  time  to  make  prepa- 
rations for  his  speech  ;  but  the  result  of  his  masterly  oration 
at  this  crisis  was  that  the  unpopularity  and  dissatisfaction 
created  by  the  course  he  had  taken  in  the  matter  of  the 
Regulation  of  Public  Worship  Bill  melted  like  snow  in  the 
firelight." 

The  description  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  oratory  by  Mr.  G.  W. 
Smalley,  the  English  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Tri- 
bune, who  accompanied  Mr.  Gladstone  to  Mid-Lothian  in 
1884,  is  interesting:  "The  first  note  of  his  voice  was  lis- 
tened for  with  something  like  anxiety.  Is  it  possible,  that, 
after  five  years,  that  marvellous  organ  should  be  still  in  its 
full  perfection  of  visible,  of  flexible  strength?  The  curious 
in  such  details  may  note  that  a  bottle  of  yellow  fluid,  from 
which  a  tumbler  has  been  half-filled,  stands  on  the  table. 
The  yellow  fluid  is  egg-flip,  a  beverage,  which,  on  this  occa- 
sion, may  be  described  as  purely  medicinal  in  character  and 
purpose,  and  is  compounded  of  the  yolk  of  two  or  three 
eggs  and  two  glasses  of  sherry.  This  is  to  keep  throat  and 
voice  in  order ;  and,  before  the  orator  has  made  an  end,  he 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  ENGLAND.  29 1 


has  sipped  a  tumblerful.  But  the  first  note  of  the  voice,  and 
the  first  half-dozen  sentences  of  the  first  day,  were  re-assur- 
ing. There  is  no  longer  any  fear  that  Mr.  Gladstone  is 
overtaxing  his  energies.  I  heard  one  of  his  friends  say  that 
he  himself  could  take  an  accurate  measure  of  his  capacities, 
and  of  the  precise  demands  a  particular  hall  and  audience 
would  make  upon  them.  He  feels,  as  the  rest  of  us  feel, 
that  the  voice  is  all  right.  Yet  he  does  not  once  try  its  full 
compass.  The  speech  is  didactive,  argumentative,  exposi- 
tory, anything  you  like  but  passionate  or  pathetic  ;  and 
you  never  know  the  full  resources  of  this  all  but  unequalled 
voice  till  you  have  heard  it  used  in  anger,  in  pity,  in  ridi- 
cule (for  which  he  keeps  one  or  two  very  subtle  semi-notes), 
— above  all,  in  one  of  those  appeals  to  principle,  and  to  what 
I  must  call  religious  conviction,  which  so  often  and  so  nobly 
close  some  of  his  greatest  speeches. 

"  I  can  well  imagine  that  a  stranger,  hearing  Mr.  Glad- 
stone on  Saturday  for  the  first  and  only  time,  should  go 
away  with  a  certain  sense  of  incompleteness  in  his  experi- 
ence. He  would  have  heard  a  speech  which  nobody  else 
could  have  made,  but  he  would  by  no  means  have  heard  the 
orator  at  his  best.  What  I  have  said  about  the  little  call  he 
made  on  his  voice  may  be  applied  to  the  speech  itself.  He 
has  not  asked  himself  to  do  all  he  can.  It  is  a  speech  with 
a  definite  purpose  ;  and  he  has  deliberately  sacrificed  every- 
thing to  the  one  great  end  of  impressing  on  the  country  the 
supreme  importance  of  the  Franchise  Bill,  and  on  the  lords 
the  supreme  advisability  of  yielding,  without  force,  to  the 
will  of  the  people.  But  let  the  stranger  come  again  on 
Monday.  The  place  is  the  same,  the  scene  is  the  same,  the 
same  orator  stands  on  the  same  platform.  But  he  is  no 
longer  in  the  same  mood  of  sweet  reasonableness,  and 
nothing  else.  The  very  face  has  changed.  On  Saturday  it 
wore  a  look  of  resolute  placidity.  On  Monday  the  features 
are  allowed  their  natural  play,  and  if  you  sit  near  enough  to 
look  into  those  onyx-hued  eyes,  you  will  vainly  try  to  sound 
their  luminous  depths.  Anybody  who  has  seen  Mr.  Glad- 
stone often,  will  discover  at  once,  that,  for  this  second  ad- 


292  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


dress,  he  feels  himself — to  use  again  his  own  memorable 
expression — unmuzzled.  There  is  no  longer  the  dread  of 
rousing  popular  passion  against  an  institution,  which,  in  his 
heart  of  hearts,  the  prime  minister  is  more  anxious  to  sup- 
port than  to  assail.  The  inexorable  necessity  of  caution 
weighs  him  down  no  longer.  He  approaches  this  new  task 
with  a  buoyant  delight  in  the  easy  triumph  he  is  about  to 
win.  The  five  years  have  rolled  off  his  brow.  Erect,  elastic, 
exultant,  he  can  hardly  wait  till  the  five  thousand  in  front 
have  done  cheering, — indeed,  but  for  his  obvious  impatience 
to  begin,  they  might  be  cheering  till  now.  In  the  first  sen- 
tence on  Monday,  you  really  hear  his  voice  for  the  first  time. 
No  trace  of  fatigue  from  the  long  effort  on  Saturday.  None 
of  the  hardness  of  tone  which  was  to  be  heard  then.  Com- 
pass, range,  and  quality  are  all  enlarged  and  lettered. 

"  His  task  now  is,  to  retort  upon  his  opponents  the  charges 
they  have  been  heaping  up  against  him.  For  five  years  the 
Tories  have  gone  about  insisting,  with  vague  but  emphatic 
assertion  and  re-assertion,  that  the  prime  minister  had  falsi- 
fied the  pledges  which  Mr.  Gladstone  had  given  in  the  first 
Mid-Lothian  speeches.  Three-fourths  of  his  speech  on 
Monday  are  one  triumphant  cry,  *  Prove  it  ! '  or,  rather, 
•'  You  have  tried  to  prove  it.  You  have  had  the  text.  You 
have  piled  accusation  upon  accusation,  you  have  years  to 
get  up  your  case.  I  challenge  you  to  put  your  finger  on 
one  count  of  this  long  indictment  which  you  have  supported 
by  one  syllable  of  evidence.'  He  goes  over  the  record.  He 
reviews  the  situation.  He  passes  from  topic  to  topic,  per- 
haps too  rapidly ;  perhaps  with  a  too  comprehensive  ambi- 
tion, and  with  too  much  eagerness  to  survey,  in  one  single 
statement,  the  whole  course  of  his  administration,  and  to 
condense  into  this  hour  and  a  half  a  complete  epitome  of  all 
he  said  in  a  week,  in  1879,  anc^  a^  tnat  ^'ls  enemies  have  said 
in  five  years  since  ;  and  to  set  in  a  halo  of  light  all  the  glaring 
contradictions,  the  baseless  inventions  of  his  critics,  and  the 
perfect  and  absolute  harmony  between  his  own  pledges  and 
the  accomplished  facts  of  his  subsequent  career.  But  what 
a  scope  such  a  programme  gives  him  !  How  he  revels  in  it ! 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  293 


How  he  heaps  irony  upon  sarcasm  !  and  how  his  defense 
rises  to  white-heat,  and  the  steel  you  thought  he  was  shaping 
into  a  shield  suddenly  flashes  before  you  a  two-edged  sword, 
and  cleaves  asunder,  in  one  blinding  stroke,  the  unhappy 
foe! 

"  Oh,  yes  !  this  indeed  is  oratory  ;  and  in  the  two  hours, 
less  ten  minutes,  during  which  it  lasts,  you  may  find  examples 
of  nearly  every  charm  which  it  is  possible  for  an  orator  to 
work  upon  his  hearers.  The  effect  he  produces  does  not 
owe  much  to  gesture.  There  is  gesture,  but  it  often  lacks 
expressiveness.  The  arms  are  used  pretty  constantly  ;  but 
the  same  movement  of  the  same  muscles  is  made  to  signify, 
or  meant  to  signify,  very  different  things.  It  wants  what 
on  the  French  stage  is  called  largeness  or  amplitude  ;  and 
it  is  sometimes  violent,  sometimes  deficient  in  the  grace  and 
suavity  which  the  admirable  smoothness  of  voice  leads  you 
to  expect.  The  shoulders  rise  and  fall  with  what  I  am 
afraid  must  at  times  be  described  as  jerkiness.  Indeed,  at 
such  moments,  the  voice  itself  sometimes  loses  its  purity, 
and  harsh  notes  are  heard.  The  rather  frequent  passage  of 
the  right  forefinger  across  the  lips,  and  the  curious  touch  of 
the  thumb  on  a  particular  spot  at  the  summit  of  the  broad 
arch  of  the  forehead,  are  peculiarities  which  I  only  mention 
for  the  sake  of  fidelity,  and  with  every  apology  to  the  orator 
for  taking  note  of  such  specks  upon  the  general  splendour  of 
his  delivery.  So  of  the  quick  bending  and  straightening  of 
the  knees.  The  impression  one  gets  from  these  exceptional 
things  is  but  momentary.  They  are  incidents  due  to  the 
overmastering  intensity  of  thought  and  aim, — nature  in  her 
cruder  moods,  getting  the  better  of  the  consummate  art 
which  is  the  prevailing,  and  all  but  continuous,  condition 
with  the  orator.  If  there  be  any  deficiencies  of  this  sort, 
you  will  hardly  observe  them  unless  after  long  familiarity 
with  the  speaker.  It  is  the  face  which  will  rivet  your  gaze, 
— the  play  of  features,  alike  delicate  and  powerful,  and  the 
ever-restless,  far-searching  glance.  Never  was  such  a  tell-tale 
countenance.  Expression  after  expression  sweeps  across  it, 
the  thought  pictures  itself  to  you  almost  before  it  is  uttered  ; 


2Q4  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


and  if  your  eyes  by  chance  meet  his,  it  is  a  blaze  of  sunlight 
which  dazzles  you.  Nor  do  the  little  blemishes  really  mat- 
ter. What  masters,  what  impresses,  you,  and  what  you  will 
carry  away  with  you  as  a  permanent  and  precious  memory 
is,  above  all  other  things,  the  nobleness  of  presence,  the 
beautiful  dignity,  the  stateliness  of  bearing,  the  immense 
sincerity,  which  are  visible  to  the  eyes  of  the  most  careless 
spectator,  and  which  fill  the  hall  with  their  influence,  and 
place  the  whole  multitude  wholly  at  the  mercy  of  the  one 
fellow-being  who  stands  before  them." 

The  charm  of  Hawarden  is  its  park,  as  it  is  of  every  other 
noted  European  house.  Mr.  Gladstone  delights  chiefly  in 
his  trees,  and  he  likes  them  too  well  to  let  them  fall  into 
decay.  When  a  tree  has  reached  its  perfect  growth,  he  re- 
joices to  cut  it  down  with  a  good  American  axe.  He  has  a 
collection  of  thirty  axes,  many  of  which  have  been  sent  to 
him  by  persons  sympathizing  with  his  love  of  the  woods- 
man's craft.  For  his  own  chopping  he  never  uses  an  axe 
not  made  in  New  England. 

There  is  a  great  deal  of  entertaining  information  about  the 
daily  life  of  the  Grand  Old  Man  in  a  recent  issue  of  one  of 
the  English  papers.  Mr.  Gladstone  lives  a  very  regular  life 
at  his  home,  we  are  told.  He  breakfasts  lightly  about  seven 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  shortly  before  eight  walks  to  the 
Hawarden  Church  for  prayers.  Upon  his  return  he  retires 
to  his  study,  where  he  peruses  and  answers  his  enormous 
mass  of  daily  correspondence.  Luncheon  at  the  Castle  is 
conducted  in  a  homely  manner.  The  "  lunch  is  on  the  hob  " 
at  Hawarden  Castle  for  an  hour  or  two  during  the  day,  and 
is  partaken  of  by  those  at  home  at  various  times.  In  the 
afternoon  Mr.  Gladstone  takes  a  walk  in  the  grounds  and 
dines  at  eight  o'clock.  He  retires  early,  and  shortly  after 
ten  o'clock  his  day's  labours  are  over.  He  drinks  bitter  beer 
with  his  luncheon.  A  glass  or  two  of  claret  at  dinner,  and 
sometimes  a  glass  of  port,  that  nectar  of  orators,  satisfy  his 
very  moderate  requirements  for  stimulant. 

Like  General  Ignatieff,  he  has  never  smoked.  He  belongs 
to  the  older  school,  which  acquired  its  habits  at  a  time  when 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  ENGLAND.  2g$ 


tobacco  smoking  was  regarded  as  somewhat  vulgar.  Hence, 
neither  pipe,  cigar  nor  cigarette  is  ever  to  be  seen  between 
his  lips.  But  Mr.  Gladstone  is  not  in  any  sense  ascetic  ;  he 
is  a  generous  liver  and  is  a  great  believer  in  the  virtues  of  a 
glass  of  good  port  wine.  When  speaking,  his  fillip  is  a  com- 
pound of  sherry  and  egg,  which  is  carefully  prepared  by 
Mrs.  Gladstone,  who  attends  to  its  manufacture  with  as 
much  anxiety  as  if  it  were  the  elixir  of  life. 

Mr.  Gladstone  usually  has  three  books  in  reading  at  the 
same  time,  and  changes  from  one  to  another  when  his  mind 
has  reached  the  limit  of  absorption.  This  is  a  necessary  cor- 
rective to  the  tendency  to  think  only  of  one  thing  at  one 
time,  which  sometimes  in  politics  leads  him  to  neglect  that 
all-round  survey  of  the  situation  which  is  indispensable  to  a 
Prime  Minister.  During  the  beginning  of  the  Irish  question 
in  1880  he  was  so  absorbed  in  the  question  of  the  coercion 
of  Turkey  that  he  could  hardly  be  induced  to  spare  a 
thought  for  Ireland  ;  now  it  is  just  as  difficult  to  get  him  to 
think  of  any  political  question  but  that  of  Ireland. 

He  complains  sometimes  that  his  memory  is  no  longer 
quite  so  good  as  it  used  to  be,  but,  although  that  may  be 
true,  it  is  still  twice  as  good  as  anybody  else's,  for  Mr.  Glad- 
stone has  an  extraordinary  faculty  of  not  only  remembering 
those  things  he  ought  to  remember  but  for  forgetting  those 
things  it  is  useless  for  him  to  remember. 

He  possesses  the  enormous  gift  of  being  able  to  sleep. 
All  his  life  long  he  has  been  a  sound  sleeper.  It  used  to  be 
said  that  he  had  a  faculty  which  was  possessed  by  Napoleon 
"Bonaparte  of  commanding  sleep  at  will,  and,  what  is  perhaps 
still  rarer,  of  waking  up  instantly  in  full  possession  of  every 
faculty.  Some  people  can  go  to  sleep  soon,  but  they  take 
some  time  to  wake.  Mr.  Gladstone,  it  used  to  be  said,  was 
capable  of  sitting  down  in  a  chair,  covering  his  face  with  a 
handkerchief  and  going  to  sleep  in  thirty  seconds,  and  after 
sleeping  for  thirty  minutes  or  an  hour,  as  the  case  might  be, 
waking  up  as  bright  as  ever,  all  drowsiness  disappearing  the 
moment  he  opened  his  eyes.  During  all  Mr.  Gladstone's 
career  he  has  never  lost  his  sleep,  except  once  and  that  was 


296  HISTOR  Y  OF  OR  A  TOR  Y. 

during  the  troubles  that  arose  about  Egypt  and  General 
Gordon.  Then  he  slept  badly  and  for  the  first  time,  it  was 
feared  that  he  would  not  be  able  to  maintain  the  burden  of 
office.  He  has,  however,  got  over  the  effect  of  that  period 
of  stress  and  strain  and  he  is  still  able  to  count  confidently 
upon  at  least  five  consecutive  hours  of  sound  and  refreshing 
sleep  every  night.  But  for  that  he  would  long  ago  have 
broken  down. 

Although  Mr.  Gladstone  is  pre-eminently  a  talker  in 
society,  yet  he  does  not  disdain  the  other  arts  by  which 
people  who  dine  out  contrive  to  spend  the  time.  In  his 
younger  days  he  used  to  be  quite  noted  for  singing  either 
solos  or  part-songs,  and  even  down  to  the  present  time  the 
musical  bass  of  his  voice  is  often  heard  to  great  advantage 
in  family  worship  at  Hawarden  on  Sunday  nights.  Whether 
he  still  keeps  up  the  practice  of  singing  in  company  is  doubt- 
ful, but  there  are  legends  of  the  wonderful  effect  with  which 
he  was  wont  to  render  a  favourite  Scotch  song,  and  irrever- 
ent gossips  have  even  declared  that  on  one  occasion  Mr. 
Gladstone  brought  down  the  drawing-room  by  the  vivacity 
and  rollicking  spirit  with  which  he  rendered  the  well-known 
Camptown  Races  with  its  familiar  refrain  : 

"  Gwine  to  ride  all  night, 
Gwine  to  ride  all  day  ; 
I  bet  my  money  on  the  bob-tail  nag, 
And  somebody  bet  on  the  bay. 
O  du-dah-day  !  " 

His  high  spirits  break  out  at  every  moment,  and  he. used' 
to  rejoice  to  play  a  comedy  part  on  his  own  or  his  son's 
lawn.  It  would  be  incorrect  to  say  that  on  the  occasion  of 
popular  celebrations,  of  local  fancy  fairs  and  cottage  gardening 
shows,  Mr.  Gladstone  plays  down  to  the  level  of  his  audience. 
On  the  contrary,  he  exhibits  just  sufficient  sympathy  to  raise 
them  to  enthusiasm,  and  no  more.  Of  Mr.  Gladstone's  lieu- 
tenant, Mr.  Morley,  it  may  be  said  that  he  has  no  amuse- 
ments whatever.  He  neither  boats,  nor  rides,  nor  cuts  down 
trees,  nor,  as  one  veracious  chronicler  asserted,  does  he  spend 


ORATORY  IN  ENGLAND.  297 


his  leisure  time  in  catching  butterflies.  He  indulges  in  none 
of  the  ordinary  dissipations  by  which  the  statesman  and  the 
man  of  letters  can  unbend  his  bow.  Mr.  Gladstone,  as 
might  be  expected,  is  most  catholic  in  his  tastes,  but,  except 
for  wood-cutting  and  pedestrianism,  he  can  hardly  be  said  to 
be  much  of  an  athlete.  He  has  played  cricket  and  other 
games,  but  he  has  never  thrown  himself  into  them  with  that 
passion  which  is  necessary  for  success,  although  one  could 
imagine  Mr.  Gladstone  being  the  champion  cricketer  of 
England,  if  he  gave  his  mind  to  it,  even  now.  But  in  out- 
of-door  sports  he  prefers  Shank's  pony  to  any  other  means, 
excepting  the  cutting  down  of  trees,  of  amusing  himself. 
He  is  a  great  pedestrian,  and  is  able  to  distance  any  ordinary 
walker,  although  he  will  soon  be  in  his  8oth  year.  Mrs. 
Gladstone  is  also  a  good  pedestrian,  and  one  Summer  they 
amused  themselves  one  afternoon  by  ascending  a  hill  some 
3000  feet  above  the  sea-level  without  appearing  to  feel  the 
exertion  arduous.  At  indoor  games  Mr.  Gladstone  used  to 
enjoy  a  rubber  at  whist,  but  he  is  now  more  devoted  to 
back-gammon,  a  game  which  he  plays  with  the  same  concen- 
tration of  energy  and  attention  that  he  devotes  to  the  pre- 
paration of  a  Budget  or  the  course  of  a  parliamentary  debate. 
He  occasionally  plays  at  draughts,  but  is  a  very  bad  hand  at 
the  chequers. 

Mr.  Gladstone's  society  has  always  been  an  immense  ad- 
dition to  the  company  to  which  he  was  invited.  No  one 
could  be  more  humble  and  more  simple,  or  more  ready  to 
"  take  a  back  seat,"  but  he  never  takes  airs  upon  himself, 
and  falls  in  harmoniously  with  anything  that  is  going  on. 
The  account  published  some  time  ago  of  Mr.  Gladstone  as  a 
conversationalist  is  singularly  incorrect  in  representing  him 
as  monopolising  all  the  conversation.  Mr.  Gladstone  no 
doubt  takes  his  fair  share,  which  is  a  very  large  one,  but  no 
one  is  less  given  to  monopolising  talk  than  he.  He  can  talk 
about  anything,  and  pours  out  a  flood  of  information,  of 
anecdote  and  of  illustration,  upon  any  theme  that  may  be 
started  in  a  fashion  which  makes  the  ordinary  visitor  feel 
that  the  best  service  he  can  render  is  to  listen,  merely  throw- 


298  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 

ing  in,  from  time  to  time,  a  remark  necessary  to  start  Mr. 
Gladstone  along  on  a  fresh  track,  or  to  force  him  to  draw 
still  more  deeply  from  the  immense  reservoir  of  hoarded 
knowledge  which  he  has  under  his  command. 

Not  that  Mr.  Gladstone  is  a  man  whom  you  can  lightly 
contradict,  or  one  before  whom  you  would  care  to  hazard 
any  observation  which  you  had  not  carefully  considered. 
The  promptitude  with  which  he  comes  down  upon  any  un- 
happy wretch  who  may  have  happened  to  hazard  an  obser- 
vation which  Mr.  Gladstone  does  not  believe  to  have  been 
founded  on  fact  is  like  the  swoop  of  an  eagle  on  its  prey. 
The  eye  flashes  and  the  unfortunate  interlocutor  is  com- 
pelled to  "  stand  and  deliver  "  his  facts,  his  references,  and 
his  "  justificatory  pieces"  in  a  fashion  which  once  ex- 
perienced is  never  forgotten.  The  peculiar  flash  in  Mr. 
Gladstone's  eye  as  he  turns  upon  anyone  whose  remarks  or 
acts  have  slightly  ruffled  the  equanimity  of  his  soul,  was 
very  marked  ten  years  ago  !  Of  late  he  requires  more  rous- 
ing than  he  used  to,  but  even  still  there  are  times  when 
those  who  know  him  can  well  understand  the  remark  of  the 
West-countryman  who  once  wrote  to  Mr.  Gladstone  saying: 
"  You  do  not  know  me,  and  have  forgotten  that  we  ever  met. 
I  have  not  forgotten  you,  nor  can  I  ever  forget  the  flash  of 
your  eagle  eye  on  Frome  platform,  which  went  through 
me." 

Mr.  Gladstone  has  been  one  of  England's  most  won- 
derful statesmen.  His  influence  has  been  world-wide,  and 
will  last  until  the  end  of  time.  Many  years  have  elapsed 
since  Macaulay  described  Mr.  Gladstone  as  the  "  rising  hope 
of  the  stern  and  unbending  Tories,  who  follow  reluctantly 
and  mutinously  a  leader  whose  experience  and  eloquence 
are  indispensable  to  them,  but  whose  cautious  temper  and 
moderate  opinions  they  abhor."  How  completely  his  career 
has  disappointed  the  "  stern  and  unbending  Tories,"  it  is 
unnecessary  to  say. 

The  purity  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  motives  no  one  has  ever 
dared  to  question.  His  public  and  private  character  are 
beyond  reproach.  The  generosity  and  magnanimity  with 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IV  ENGLAND. 


299 


which  he  treats  his  political  adversaries ;  his  fidelity  to  his 
colleagues  and  constituents ;  the  earnestness  with  which  he 
throws  himself  into  any  cause  which  he  believes  to  be  right 
— are  traits  which  should  not  be  forgotten  in  estimating  his 
character.  Mr.  Gladstone  is  a  singularly  great  and  noble 
man,  and  has  honestly  won  the  admiration  with  which  he 
is  universally  regarded. 


CHAPTER  V. 

ORATORY   IN   FRANCE. 

THE  legal  profession  in  France  has  achieved  for  itself 
a  proud  position.  The  forensic  orators  of  France 
have  always  been  justly  noted  for  their  great  human- 
ity, their  chivalrous  courage,  profound  knowledge  of  the 
law,  their  varied  accomplishments,  and  their  powerful  elo- 
quence. They  have  always  discharged  their  duties  to  their 
clients  with  the  greatest  boldness  and  fidelity.  Not  only  has 
the  French  bar  been  remarkably  free  from  corruption,  but 
judicial  corruption  has  always  been  punished  there  with 
great  severity.  As  a  proof  of  the  strict  severity  with  which 
corruption  on  the  part  of  any  member  of  the  court,  in  France, 
was  punished,  it  is  said,  that,  as  long  ago  as  1348,  one  of  the 
judges,  named  Alani  de  Ourdery,  was  hanged  by  order  of 
the  parliament  for  corruption  in  office. 

Another  instance  of  the  same  impartial  justice  occurred  in 
1496,  when  Claude  de  Chamvreux,  a  judge  and  formerly  a 
councillor,  was  convicted  of  corruption  in  regard  to  certain 
matters  which  had  been  referred  to  him.  A  strong  effort 
was  made  to  save  him,  but  the  guilty  judge  was  not  allowed 
to  escape.  "  He  was  deprived  of  his  office,  and  openly 
stripped  of  his  scarlet  gown  and  furred  cap  ;  and  then  with 
naked  feet  and  bare  head,  and  holding  in  his  hand  a  lighted 
torch,  he  fell  upon  his  knees  upon  the  floor,  and  begged 
aloud  for  mercy  from  God,  and  the  king,  and  justice,  and 
the  parties  whom  he  had  injured.  The  report  which  he  had 
falsified  was  then  torn  to  pieces  by  an  officer  of  the  court ; 

300 


ORATORY  IN  FRANCE.  30 1 


and  the  culprit  was  conducted  to  the  quadrangle  of  the 
Palais  de  Justice,  and,  being  consigned  over  to  the  public 
executioner,  was  forced  to  mount  upon  a  cart,  and  conducted 
to  the  pillory,  where  he  stood  for  three  hours.  He  was  after- 
wards branded  on  the  forehead  by  a  hot  iron  with  a  fleur  de 
Us,  and  banished  forever  from  the  realm."  It  is  a  great  pity 
that  all  unjust  judges  in  every  country  could  not  be  treated 
in  a  similar  manner,  and  when  our  civilisation  becomes 
higher  they  will  be. 

The  order  of  advocates  in  France  bore  some  analogy  to 
the  order  of  knighthood,  as  may  be  seen  by  the  following 
rules,  to  which,  with  many  others,  the  advocate  promised 
obedience  upon  his  admission  to  the  bar: 

"  I.  He  shall  not  undertake  just  and  unjust  causes  alike 
without  distinction,  nor  maintain  such  as  he  undertakes, 
with  trickery,  fallacies,  and  misquotations  of  authorities. 

"  2.  He  was  not,  in  his  pleadings,  to  indulge  in  abuse  of 
the  opposite  party  or  his  counsel. 

"  3.  He  was  not  to  compromise  the  interests  of  his  clients, 
by  absence  from  court  when  the  cause  in  which  he  was  re- 
tained was  called  on. 

"  4.  He  was  not  to  violate  the  respect  due  to  the  court,  by 
either  improper  expressions,  or  unbecoming  gestures. 

"  5.  He  was  not  to  exhibit  a  sordid  avidity  of  gain,  by 
putting  too  high  a  price  upon  his  services. 

"  6.  He  was  not  to  make  any  bargain  with  his  client  for  a 
share  in  the  fruits  of  the  judgment  he  might  recover. 

"  /.  He  was  not  to  lead  a  dissipated  life,  or  one  contrary 
to  the  gravity  of  his  calling. 

"  8.  He  was  not,  under  pain  of  being  debarred,  to  refuse 
his  services  to  the  indigent  and  oppressed." 

The  last  rule,  it  will  be  noticed,  breathes  the  very  spirit  of 
chivalry. 

"  Purity  of  life  and  disinterested  zeal  in  the  cause  of  the 
poor  and  friendless  were  enjoined  upon  the  chevalier  and 
the  advocate  alike ;  and  doubtless  the  resemblance  between 
the  two  professions,  of  which  the  latter  was  thus  reminded, 
had  a  powerful  effect  in  producing  a  tone  of  high-minded 


302  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


feeling  which  ought  ever  to  be  the  characteristic  of  the  bar. 
But  sometimes  the  resemblance  was  carried  farther  than  was 
either  safe  or  agreeable,  and  the  advocate  had  to  perform  a 
warlike  office,  not  in  a  figurative,  but  a  literal  sense.  I  allude 
to  the  appeal  or  wager  of  battel,  whereby  the  sword  was 
made  the  arbiter  of  disputes,  and  sanguinary  duels  were 
sanctioned  by  courts  of  law." 

M.  Berryer  has  drawn  an  interesting  picture  of  one  of  the 
French  advocates  of  the  olden  time  in  the  performance  of  his 
daily  duties :  "  We  see  him,  dressed  in  his  robes  of  black  sa- 
tin, set  out  at  an  early  hour,  on  a  summer  morning,  from  one 
of  the  picturesque  houses,  with  peaked  turrets  and  high  gable 
ends,  which  rose  above  the  banks  of  the  Seine  in  old  Paris,  and 
hurrying  forward  to  the  court,  because  the  clock  of  the  Holy 
Chapel  had  just  struck  six,  at  which  the  judges  are  obliged 
to  take  their  seats,  under  pain  of  losing  their  salary  for  the 
day.  He  is  busy  thinking  over  the  cause  which  he  has  to 
plea.d,  and  taxes  his  ingenuity  to  compress  his  speech  into 
as  brief  a  compass  as  possible  ;  for  he  remembers  that  an 
ordinance  of  Charles  VIII.,  issued  in  1493,  imposes  a  fine 
upon  long-winded  advocates  who  weary  the  court  with  their 
prolixity.  Look  at  his  countenance.  The  furred  hood 
which  covers  his  head,  and  the  ample  grey  cloak,  the  collar 
of  which  hides  half  his  face,  cannot  so  far  conceal  it  as  to 
prevent  you  from  seeing  an  expression  of  anger  there,  which 
is  no  doubt  excited  by  the  recollection  of  the  arguments 
used  by  his  opponent  on  the  preceding  evening.  But  think 
not  that  when  he  reaches  the  court  and  rises  to  reply,  he 
will  retort  by  any  abusive  language  ;  for  by  another  regula- 
tion of  the  same  king,  counsel  are  expressly  forbidden  to 
use  any  opprobrious  words  towards  their  antagonists.  The 
judges  are  seated  on  their  chairs  ;  the  parties  are  before 
them  ;  and  now  he,  whose  portrait  we  are  sketching,  rises  to 
address  the  court.  He  speaks  under  the  solemn  sanction  of 
an  oath,  for  he  has  sworn  to  undertake  only  such  causes  as, 
in  his  conscience,  he  believes  to  be  just ;  he  has  also  sworn 
not  to  spin  but  his  pleadings  by  any  of  the  tricks  of  his  pro- 
fession, but  make  them  as  concise  as  possible.  If,  in  the 


ORATORY  JN  FRANCE.  303 


course  of  his  harangue,  he  touches  on  any  question  which 
he  thinks  may  affect  the  interests  of  the  crown,  he  suddenly 
stops  and  gives  formal  notice  of  it  to  the  court.  Twelve 
o'clock  strikes  just  after  the  cause  is  over  and  judgment  pro- 
nounced, and  the  court  rises.  His  client  has  been  success- 
ful, and  he  now  takes  his  counsel  aside  to  settle  with  him 
the  amount  of  his  fees  ;  and  it  is  not  without  an  effort  that 
he  grudgingly  gives  him  the  sum  which  the  royal  ordinance 
permits  him  to  receive." 

Every  nation  has  its  standard  of  eloquence — nay,  even  in 
different  sections  of  the  same  country — the  standards  are 
different,  as,  for  instance,  in  the  United  States — the  orators 
of  the  South  and  West  are  more  demonstrative  than  the 
orators  of  the  North.  But  a  finished  speaker  would  be 
listened  to  by  an  intelligent  audience  with  pleasure  in  any 
country,  notwithstanding  the  differences  in  the  standards  of 
oratory. 

To  the  comparatively  cold  English  or  American  audiences, 
the  eloquence  of  many  of  the  French  orators  would  appear 
too  declamatory  in  character,  while  a  French  audience  would 
think  an  English  or  American  orator  lacking  in  warmth  and 
animation. 

It  is  not  the  author's  purpose  to  give  a  history  of  the 
French  bar,  and  the  limits,  of  the  present  work  forbid  more 
than  a  glance  at  some  of  the  greatest  of  the  modern  forensic 
and  political  orators  of  France. 

The  reader  is  doubtless  familiar  with  the  history  of  the 
French  Revolution,  and  knows  that  the  Convention  of  the 
States-General,  and  the  final  organisation  of  the  National 
Assembly,  fixed  it  irretrievably.  The  deputies  of  the  peo- 
ple, after  they  assembled  from  every  quarter  of  France, 
found  themselves  opposed  by  a  corrupt  Court  and  aris- 
tocracy, and,  although  the  nation  was  on  the  brink  of  ruin, 
they  were  obliged  to  spend  months  in  contending  for  the 
plainest  principles  of  civil  liberty.  The  reformations  which 
were  demanded  by  the  exigencies  of  the  times  might  not 
have  been  carried,  had  it  not  been  for  Mirabeau, — the  great 
orator  of  the  Assembly.  He  hurled  defiance  and  scorn  on 


304  HISTORY   OF  ORATORY. 


the  nobility  and  the  King,  from  the  very  beginning,  and  in- 
spired the  Convention  with  his  own  boldness.  "  No  matter 
what  vacillation  or  fears  might  agitate  the  members,  when 
his  voice  of  thunder  shook  the  hall  in  which  they  sat,  every 
heart  grew  determined  and  resolute.  With  his  bushy  black 
hair  standing  on  end,  and  his  eyes  flashing  fire,  he  became 
at  once  the  hope  of  the  people  and  the  terror  of  the  aris- 
tocracy. Incoherent  and  unwieldy  in  the  commencement 
of  his  speech,  steady  and  strong  when  fairly  under  motion, 
he  carried  resistless  powers  in  his  appeals.  As  a  huge  ship 
in  a  dead  calm  rolls  and  rocks  on  the  heavy  swell,  but  the 
moment  the  wind  fills  its  sails  stretches  proudly  away, 
throwing  the  foam  from  its  front, — so  he  tossed  irregular 
and  blind  upon  the  sea  of  thought,  until  caught  by  the 
breath  of  passion,  when  he  moved  majestically,  irresistibly 
onward." 

"  Slave,  go  tell  your  master  that  we  are  here  by  the  will 
of  the  people,  and  that  we  will  depart  only  at  the  point  of 
the  bayonet."  These  words,  spoken  to  the  emissary  of 
Lewis  by  Mirabeau,  sealed  the  fate  of  despotism  in  France. 

The  Constituent  Assembly  sat  from  1789  to  1791.  The 
overthrow  of  the  Bastile,  and  triumph  of  the  people,  caused 
the  aristocrats  to  fly  from  France  in  crowds.  Theretofore 
they  had  constituted  the  chief  opponents  of  the  deputies  of 
the  people,  and  after  their  departure,  there  being  no  longer 
any  opposition,  the  deputies  split  into  two  parties  among 
themselves. 

•  The  Girondists,  at  first,  were  the  Republicans,  and  favoured 
the  establishment  of  a  government  founded  on  the  principles 
of  the  republics  of  Greece  and  Rome,  but  a  party  springing 
up,  more  radical  than  their  own,  and  pushing  the  state 
toward  anarchy,  they  became  Conservatives.  Mirabeau,  in 
the  meantime,  full  of  gloomy  forebodings,  died.  The  Mira- 
beau family  was  Etruscan.  It  retained  in  all  its  members 
for  many  generations,  not  alone  its  Latin  origin,  but  the 
aristocratic  pride,  the  talent  for  oratory,  the  rich  imagina- 
tion, the  war-like  spirit,  the  cultivated  tastes,  for  which  the 
family  was  famous. 


ORATORY  IN  FRANCE.  305 


Mirabeau. — Honore  Gabriel  Riquette,  Compte  de  Mira- 
beau,  was  born  at  Bignon,  in  France,  on  the  Qth  of  March, 
1749.  He  was  the  greatest  of  the  French  political  orators. 
Mirabeau  was  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  men  of  his  age. 
In  intellect  he  far  surpassed  all  the  great  luminaries  of  that 
brilliant  period.  With  all  his  vices,  Mirabeau  had  many  re- 
deeming traits.  A  more  ardent  patriot  than  Mirabeau  never 
lived.  The  love  of  France  never  ceased  in  his  heart  but  with 
his  last  breath,  and  the  good  of  his  country  was  mingled  even 
with  his  dying  aspirations.  If  his  life  had  been  spared  it  is 
thought  by  many  writers  that  the  Revolution  would  have 
taken  another  direction.  The  following  graphic  sketch  of 
his  oratorical  character,  which  will  afford  the  reader  some 
idea  of  his  vehemence  as  a  public  speaker,  is  furnished  by  a 
distinguished  French  writer,  author  of  Noted  French  Orators. 

"  Mirabeau  in  the  tribune  was  the  most  imposing  of  ora- 
tors ;  an  orator  so  consummate,  that  it  is  harder  to  say  what 
he  wanted  than  what  he  possessed. 

"  Mirabeau  had  a  massive  and  square  obesity  of  figure, 
thick  lips,  a  forehead  broad,  bony,  prominent ;  arched  eye- 
brows, an  eagle  eye,  cheeks  flat  and  somewhat  flabby, 
features  full  of  pock-holes  and  blotches,  a  voice  of  thunder, 
an  enormous  mass  of  hair,  and  the  face  of  a  lion. 

"  His  manner  as  an  orator  is  that  of  the  great  masters  of 
antiquity,  with  an  admirable  energy  of  gesture,  and  a  vehe- 
mence of  diction  which  perhaps  they  had  never  reached. 

"  Mirabeau  in  his  premeditated  discourses  was  admirable. 
But  what  was  he  not  in  his  extemporaneous  effusions?  His 
natural  vehemence,  of  which  he  repressed  the  flights  in  his 
prepared  speeches,  broke  down  all  barriers  in  his  improvisa- 
tions. A  sort  of  nervous  irritability  gave  then  to  his  whole 
frame  an  almost  preternatural  animation  and  life.  His 
breast  dilated  with  an  impetuous  breathing.  His  lion  face 
became  wrinkled  and  contorted.  His  eyes  shot  forth  flame. 
He  roared,  he  stamped,  he  shook  the  fierce  mass  of  his  hair, 
all  whitened  with  foam  ;  he  trod  the  tribune  with  the  supreme 
authority  of  a  master,  and  the  imperial  air  of  a  king.  What 
an  interesting  spectacle  to  behold  him,  momently,  erect  and 


306  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 

exalt  himself  under  the  pressure  of  obstacle  !  To  see  him 
display  the  pride  of  his  commanding  brow !  To  see  him, 
like  the  ancient  orator,  when,  with  all  the  powers  of  his  un- 
chained eloquence,  he  was  wont  to  sway  to  and  fro  in  the 
forum  the  agitated  waves  of  the  Roman  multitude !  Then 
would  he  throw  by  the  measured  notes  of  his  declamation, 
habitually  grave  and  solemn.  Then  would  escape  him 
broken  exclamations,  tones  of  thunder,  and  accents  of 
heartrending  and  terrible  pathos.  He  concealed  with  the 
flesh  and  colour  of  his  rhetoric  the  sinewy  arguments  of  his 
dialectics.  He  transported  the  Assembly,  because  he  was 
himself  transported.  And  yet — so  extraordinary  was  his 
force — he  abandoned  himself  to  the  torrent  of  his  eloquence 
without  wandering  from  his  course ;  he  mastered  others  by 
its  sovereign  sway,  without  losing  for  an  instant  his  own 
self-control."  Throughout  his  strange  career,  Mirabeau 
bore  with  him  the  remembrance  of  an  unnatural  father's 
hate. 

"  I  have  nothing  to  tell  you  of  my  prodigious  son/'  writes 
his  father  a  few  months  after  the  child's  birth,  "  except  that 
he  battles  with  his  nurse."  A  year  later  he  adds  :  "  He  is  as 
ugly  as  a  child  of  the  devil."  When  the  boy  is  five  years  old, 
he  says :  "  He  is  as  sand  on  which  no  impression  remains.  I 
have  placed  him  in  Poisson's  hands,  who  is  as  devoted  as  a 
spaniel  to  me.  Thank  him  much  for  the  education  he  is 
giving  the  brat.  Let  him  form  him  into  a  steady  citizen, 
and  that  is  all  that  is  necessary.  Possessing  those  qualities, 
he  can  make  the  pigmy  race  who  play  fine  at  court  tremble  ! 
.  .  .  To-night  a  little  monster  that  they  say  is  my  son 
is  to  perform  a  part  in  a  play ;  but  were  he  the  son  of  our 
greatest  comedian  he  could  not  be  a  more  perfect  buffoon, 
mimic,  and  actor.  His  body  increases,  his  chattering  in- 
creases, his  face  grows  marvellously  ugly,  ugly  as  if  by 
preference  and  intent,  and,  further,  he  declaims  perfectly  at 
random.  He  is  a  sickly  child  ;  if  it  were  necessary  for  me 
to  produce  another,  where  the  devil  should  I  find  a  pattern 
of  the  same  material?  He  is  turbulent,  yet  gentle  and 
amenable,  indeed  so  much  so  that  it  approaches  to  stupid 


ORATORY  IN  FRANCE.  307 


ity.  Like  Punch,  all  belly  and  all  back,  but  very  ready  on 
the  occasion  to  imitate  the  tortoise,  presenting  the  shell, 
and  allowing  himself  to  be  struck.  This  big,  ungainly 
Gabriel  goes  about  everywhere  soliciting  alms  in  order  to 
give  charity  to  beggars ;  following  in  that  respect  the  ex- 
ample of  his  mother,  notwithstanding  all  I  say  about  its 
being  contrary  to  my  principles.  The  other  day  at  one  of* 
those  fetes  given  at  my  house  when  races  are  run,  and 
prizes  won,  he  gained  a  hat,  and  then  turning  to  a  child 
who  had  a  cap  on,  he  put  his  own  on  him,  saying  to  the  lit- 
tle peasant,  '  Here,  -take  it,  I  have  not  two  heads  ! '  That 
youth  appeared  to  me  then  emperor  of  the  world  !  I  don't 
know  what  godlike  expression  passed  over  his  face  at  the 
moment,  but  it  haunted  me  in  my  dreams,  and  brought 
tears  to  my  eyes.  The  lesson  did  me  good." 

As  a  fine  specimen  of  his  burning  eloquence,  we  quote  his 
beautiful  eulogium  on  our  immortal  Franklin,  pronounced 
on  the  nth  of  June,  1790: 

"  Franklin  is  dead  !  Restored  to  the  bosom  of  the  divinity 
is  that  genius  which  gave  freedom  to  America  and  rayed 
forth  torrents  of  light  upon  Europe.  The  sage  whom  two 
worlds  claim — the  man  whom  the  history  of  empires  and  the 
history  of  science  alike  contend  for — occupied,  it  cannot  be 
denied,  a  lofty  rank  among  his  species.  Long  enough  have 
political  cabinets  signalised  the  death  of  those  who  were 
great  in  their  funeral  eulogies  only.  Long  enough  has  the 
etiquette  of  courts  prescribed  hypocritical  mournings.  For 
their  benefactors  only  should  nations  assume  the  emblems 
of  grief  ;  and  the  representatives  of  nations  should  commend 
only  the  heroes  of  humanity  to  public  veneration. 

"  In  the  fourteen  states  of  the  confederacy,  Congress  has 
ordained  a  mourning  of  two  months  for  the  death  of  Frank- 
lin ;  and  America  is  at  this  moment  acquitting  herself  of 
this  tribute  of  honour  to  one  of  the  Fathers  of  her  Con- 
stitution. Would  it  not  become  us,  gentlemen,  to  unite 
in  this  religious  act  ;  to  participate  in  this  homage,  publicly 
rendered,  at  once  to  the  rights  of  man,  and  to  the  philoso- 
pher who  has  contributed  most  largely  to  their  vindication 


308  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


throughout  the  world  ?  Antiquity  would  have  erected  altars 
to  this  great  and  powerful  genius,  who,  to  promote  the 
welfare  of  mankind,  comprehending  both  the  heavens 
and  the  earth  in  the  range  of  his  thought,  could  at  once 
snatch  the  bolt  from  the  cloud  and  the  scepter  from 
tyrants.  France,  enlightened  and  free,  owes  at  least  the  ac- 
knowledgement of  her  remembrance  and  regret  to  one  of 
the  greatest  intellects  that  ever  served  the  united  cause  of 
philosophy  and  liberty.  I  propose  that  it  be  now  decreed 
that  the  national  Assembly  wear  mourning,  during  three 
days,  for  Benjamin  Franklin." 

Mirabeau's  capacity  for  hard  work  was  simply  marvellous. 
It  is  said  that  he  did  more  in  a  day  than  the  majority  of 
men  would  do  in  a  month.  He  carried  on  a  prodigious 
amount  of  business  simultaneously.  No  time  was  lost  from 
his  conception  of  a  project  to  its  execution.  To-day,  not 
to-morrow,  seems  to  have  been  his  motto.  Conversation 
alone  could  seduce  him  from  his  work,  and  even  that  he 
converted  into  a  means  of  labour. 

He  read  very  little,  but  with  great  rapidity.  He  discov- 
ered at  a  glance  what  was  useful  to  him  in  a  book.  As  fast 
as  a  speech  was  changed,  he  had  fresh  copies  of  it  made. 
He  was  very  impatient  of  delays.  His  secretary  one  day 
said  to  him,  "  The  thing  you  require  is  impossible."  Said 
Mirabeau,  passionately  starting  from  his  chair,  "  Impossible! 
never  again  use  that  foolish  word  in  my  presence  !  " 

Carmenin,  an  eloquent  French  writer  says  of  Mirabeau  : 

"  Everywhere,  in  every  thing,  already  Mirabeau  reveals 
himself ; — in  his  letters,  in  his  pleadings,  in  his  memorials, 
in  his  treatises  on  arbitrary  imprisonments,  on  the  liberty  of 
the  press,  on  the  privileges  of  the  nobility,  on  the  inequality 
of  distinctions,  on  the  financial  affairs  and  the  situation  of 
Europe  :  enemy  of  every  abuse,  vehement,  polemic,  bold 
reformer ;  more  remarkable,  it  is  true,  for  elevation,  hardi- 
hood, and  originality  of  thought,  for  sagacity  of  observation, 
and  vigour  of  reasoning,  than  for  the  graces  of  form  ;  verbose, 
even  loose,  incorrect,  unequal,  but  rapid  and  picturesque  in 
style, — a  spoken,  not  a  written  style,  as  is  that  of  most  orators. 


OKA  TOR  Y  IN  FRANCE.  309 


With  what  masculine  eloquence  he  objurgates  the  King  of 
Prussia!  "Do  but  what  the  son  of  your  slave  will  have 
done  ten  times  a  day,  ten  times  better  than  you,  the  cour- 
tiers will  tell  you  you  have  performed  an  extraordinary 
action.  Give  full  reign  to  your  passions,  they  will  tell  you, 
you  do  well.  Squander  the  sweat  and  the  blood  of  your 
subjects  like  the  waters  of  the  rivers,  they  will  say  you  do 
well.  If  you  descend  to  avenge  yourself, — you  so  powerful 
— they  will  say  you  do  well.  They  have  said  so,  when  Alex- 
ander, in  his  drunkenness,  tore  open  with  his  piognard  the 
bosom  of  his  friend.  They  have  said  so,  when  Nero  assas- 
sinated his  mother." 

Is  not  this  in  the  oratorical  style  ? 

The  following  picture  of  a  legal  constitution  must  have 
thrilled  the  popular  heart  : 

"  Too  often  are  bayonets  the  only  remedy  applied  to  the 
convulsions  of  oppression  and  want.  But  bayonets  never 
re-establish  but  the  peace  of  terror,  the  silence  of  despotism. 
Ah !  the  people  are  not  a  furious  herd  which  must  be 
kept  in  chains  !  Always  quiet  and  moderate,  when  they  are 
truly  free,  they  are  violent  and  unruly  but  under  those  gov- 
ernments where  they  are  systematically  debased  in  order  to 
have  a  pretext  to  despise  them.  When  we  consider  what 
must  result  to  the  happiness  of  twenty-five  millions  of  men, 
from  a  legal  constitution  in  place  of  ministerial  caprices, — 
from  the  consent  of  all  the  wills  and  the  co-operation  of  all 
the  lights  of  the  nation  in  the  improvement  of  our  laws, 
from  the  reform  of  abuses,  from  the  reduction  of  taxes, 
from  economy  in  the  finances,  from  the  mitigation  of  the 
penal  laws,  from  regularity  of  procedure  in  the  tribunals, 
from  the  abolition  of  a  multitude  of  servitudes  which  shackle 
industry  and  mutilate  the  human  faculties,  in  a  word,  from 
that  grand  system  of  liberty,  which,  planted  on  the  firm  basis 
of  freely-elected  municipalities,  rises  gradually  to  the  pro- 
vincial administrations,  and  receives  its  completion  from  the 
annual  recurrence  of  the  States-General — when  we  weigh  all 
that  must  result  from  the  restoration  of  this  vast  empire, 
who  does  not  feel  that  the  greatest  of  crimes,  the  darkest 


310  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


outrage  against  humanity,  would  be  to  offer  opposition  to 
the  rising  destiny  of  our  country  and  thrust  her  back  into 
the  depths  of  the  abyss,  there  to  hold  her  oppressed  beneath 
the  burthen  of  all  her  chains." 

When  he  proposed  that  the  thanks  of  the  Assembly  be 
voted  to  Bailly  and  Lafayette,  he  enumerated  the  difficul- 
ties of  their  civil  and  military  administration  with  great 
accuracy  and  nicety  of  observation  : 

"  What  an  administration  !  what  an  epoch,  where  all  is  to  be 
feared  and  all  to  be  braved !  when  tumult  begets  tumult,  when 
an  affray  is  produced  by  the  very  means  taken  to  prevent  it ; 
— when  moderation  is  unceasingly  necessary,  and  moderation 
appears  pusillanimity,  timidity,  treason,  when  you  are  beset 
with  a  thousand  counsels,  and  yet  must  take  your  own- 
when  all  persons  are  to  be  dreaded,  even  citizens  whose  in- 
tentions are  pure,  but  whom  distrust,  excitement,  exaggera- 
tion, render  almost  as  formidable  as  conspirators — when  one 
is  obliged,  even  in  critical  circumstances,  to  yield  up  his 
wisdom,  to  lead  anarchy  in  order  to  repress  it,  to  assume  an 
employment  glorious,  it  is  true,  but  environed  with  the  most 
harassing  alarms — when  it  is  necessary  besides,  in  the  midst 
of  such  and  so  many  difficulties,  to  show  a  serene  counte- 
nance, to  be  always  calm,  to  enforce  order  even  in  the  small- 
est details,  to  offend  no  one,  to  heal  all  jealousies,  to  serve 
incessantly  and  seek  to  please,  but  without  the  appearance 
of  being  a  servant." 

When  M.  Necker,  minister  of  finance,  asked  the  As- 
sembly for  a  vote  of  confidence,  Mirabeau,  in  order  to  carry 
it  by  storm,  displayed  all  the  irony  of  his  eloquence  and  all 
the  might  of  his  logic  ;  and  when  he  saw  the  auditory 
shaken,  he  hurled  against  bankruptcy  the  following  fulmi- 
nations  : 

"  Oh  !  if  declarations  less  solemn  did  not  guarantee  our 
respect  for  the  public  faith,  our  horror  of  the  infamous 
word  bankruptcy,  I  should  say  to  those  who  familiarise 
themselves  perhaps  with  the  idea  of  repudiating  the  public 
engagements,  through  fear  of  excessive  sacrifices,  through 
terror  of  taxation  :  What,  then,  is  bankruptcy,  if  it  is  not  the 


OKA  TOR  Y  IN  FRANCE.  3 1 1 


crudest,  the  most  iniquitous,  the  most  disastrous  of  imposts? 
My  friends,  listen  to  me,  a  word,  a  single  word  ! 

"  Two  centuries  of  depredation  and  robbery  have  ex- 
cavated the  abyss  wherein  the  kingdom  is  on  the  verge  of 
being  engulfed.  This  frightful  gulf  it  is  indispensable  to  fill 
up.  Well,  here  is  a  list  of  the  proprietors.  Choose  from 
among  the  richest,  so  as  to  sacrifice  the  smallest  number  of 
the  citizens.  But  choose  !  for  is  it  not  expedient  that  a 
small  number  perish  to  save  the  mass  of  the  people?  Come 
—these  two  thousand  notables  possess  wherewith  to  supply 
the  deficit.  Restore  order  to  our  finances,  peace  and  pros- 
perity to  the  kingdom.  Strike,  and  immolate  pitilessly  these 
melancholy  victims,  precipitate  them  into  the  abyss ;  it  is 
about  to  close.  .  .  .  What,  you  recoil  with  horror !  .  .  . 
Inconsistent,  pusillanimous  men  !  And  do  you  not  see  that 
in  decreeing  bankruptcy — or,  what  is  more  odious  still,  in 
rendering  it  inevitable  without  decreeing — you  disgrace 
yourselves  with  an  act  a  thousand  times  more  criminal ;  for, 
in  fact,  that  horrible  sacrifice  would  remove  the  deficiency. 
But  do  you  imagine,  that  because  you  refuse  to  pay,  you 
shall  cease  to  owe  ?  Do  you  think  the  thousands,  the  mil- 
lions of  men  who  will  lose  in  an  instant  by  the  dreadful  ex- 
plosion or  its  revulsions,  all  that  constituted  the  comfort  of 
their  lives,  and  perhaps  their  sole  means  of  subsistence,  will 
leave  you  in  the  peaceable  enjoyment  of  your  crime ! 
Stoical  contemplators  of  the  incalculable  woes  which  this 
catastrophe  will  scatter  over  France  ;  unfeeling  egotists,  who 
think  these  convulsions  of  despair  and  wretchedness  will 
pass  away  like  so  many  others,  and  pass  the  more  rapidly  as 
they  will  be  the  more  violent,  are  you  quite  sure  that  so 
many  men  without  bread  will  leave  you  tranquilly  to  luxuri- 
ate amid  the  viands  which  you  will  have  been  unwilling  to 
curtail  in  either  variety  or  delicacy  ?  .  No,  you  will 

perish  ;  and  in  the  universal  conflagration,  which  you  do  not 
tremble  to  kindle,  the  loss  of  your  honour  will  not  save  you 
a  single  one  of  your  detestable  luxuries !  Vote,  then,  this 
extraordinary  subsidy,  and  may  it  prove  sufficient !  Vote  it, 
because  the  class  most  interested  in  the  sacrifice  which  the 


312  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


government  demands,  is  you  yourselves  !  Vote  it,  because 
the  public  exigencies  allow  of  no  evasion,  and  that  you  will 
be  responsible  for  every  delay  !  Beware  of  asking  time ; 
misfortune  never  grants  it.  What  !  gentlemen,  in  reference 
to  a  ridiculous  movement  of  the  Palais-Royal,  a  ludicrous 
insurrection  which  had  never  any  consequence  except  in  the 
weak  imaginations  or  the  wicked  purposes  of  a  few  design- 
ing men,  you  have  heard  not  long  since  these  insane  cries  : 
Cat  aline  is  at  the  gates  of  Rome,  and  you  deliberate.  And 
assuredly,  there  was  around  you  neither  Cataline,  nor  danger, 
nor  factions,  nor  Rome.  .  .  .  But  to-day,  bankruptcy, 
hideous  bankruptcy,  is  there  before  you.  It  threatens  to 
consume  you,  your  country,  your  property,  your  honour ! 
.  .  .  And  you  deliberate  !  " 

This  is  as  beautiful  as  it  is  antique. 

Dumont,  in  his  Recollections  of  Mirabeau,  gives  the  fol- 
lowing account  of  that  great  man  as  an  orator : 

"  In  the  tribune  he  was  impenetrable  ;  those  who  have 
seen  him  know  that  the  waves  rolled  around  him  without 
moving  him,  and  that  even  in  the  midst  of  all  the  abuse  he 
remained  master  of  his  passions.  I  remember  hearing  him 
deliver  a  report  on  the  town  of  Marseilles  ;  every  word  was 
interrupted  by  those  sitting  on  the  right  side  by  abuse  ;  he 
heard  the  words  calumniator,  liar,  assassin,  scoundrel,  and 
all  the  eloquence  of  a  Billingsgate,  echo  around  him.  He 
stopped  a  moment,  and  addressing  himself  to  the  most 
furious,  in  a  soft  sweet  voice,  said  :  '  I  will  wait,  gentlemen, 
till  this  pleasantness  shall  have  exhausted  itself/  and  he  re- 
mained perfectly  tranquil  as  if  they  had  given  him  the  most 
favourable  reception.  He  never  looked  on  himself  as  suffi- 
ciently provoked  to  forget  oratorical  decorum.  But  what 
was  wanting  in  him  as  a  political  orator  was  the  art  of  dis- 
cussion on  subjects  which  were  exacted  from  him  ;  he  did 
not  know  how  to  embrace  a  series  of  arguments  and  proofs ; 
he  did  not  understand  refuting  with  method  ;  also  he  was  in- 
duced to  abandon  important  motions  whenever  he  had  read 
his  speech,  and  after  a  brilliant  beginning  he  disappeared, 
leaving  the  field  to  his  adversary.  Barnave  had  better 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  FRA  NCR.  313 


reasoning  powers,  and  followed  step  by  step  the  arguments 
of  his  antagonists,  but  he  had  no  imagination,  gave  no  colour- 
ing to  anything,  had  no  style,  and  consequently  no  eloquence. 
One  day  when  a  parallel  was  drawn  between  his  talent  for 
argument  and  Mirabeau's  talent  for  oratory,  some  one  said, 
1  How  can  you  compare  that  artificial,  stiff  hedge  to  a  tree 
in  an  open  space  displaying  all  its  natural  beauty  ?  '  It  is 
certain  these  two  men  were  not  of  the  same  temperament ; 
but  Mirabeau  well  knew  his  weak  point,  and  one  day  when 
he  had  been  speaking  with  that  description  of  refutation 
with  some  little  success,  he  said  to  us,  '  I  see  well  enough 
that  in  order  to  extemporise  on  a  subject,  one  must  com- 
mence by  well  understanding  it/  It  was,  moreover,  the  wise 
habit  of  Mirabeau  to  give  himself  leisure  for  reflection  when- 
ever he  had  to  reply  on  important  subjects.  He  called  re- 
flection, with  much  reason,  man's  greatest  power.  He  took 
care  not  to  neglect  it.  More  a  thinker  than  an  extemporiser, 
he  never  spoke  without  first  writing  or  dictating  his  speeches. 
Resembling  Cicero  and  Demosthenes  in  this  respect,  he  read 
them  over,  put  finishing  strokes,  gave  them  solidity  by 
lengthened  arguments,  lightened  them  by  touches  of  elo- 
quence, recalled  them  to  his  memory,  sometimes  read  them, 
but  more  often  spoke  them,  adding,  to  that  which  he  had 
meditated  on,  the  abrupt  unforeseen  fire  of  inspiration.  At 
the  sittings  when  he  was  going  to  speak,  he  always  made 
his  secretaries  and  compilers  follow  him,  such  as  Dumont, 
Duroveray,  Pellene,  and  de  Comps. 

"  He  kept  them  shut  into  a  small  room  near  the  tribune, 
behind  the  president's  orifice,  waiting  his  orders.  These 
confidants  of  his  thoughts  were  desired  to  follow  the  dis- 
cussions in  which  he  took  part,  and  to  note  all  the  ideas  and 
all  the  refutations  that  the  circumstance  and  debate  sug- 
gested to  them.  If  he  was  obliged  to  re-ascend  the  tribune 
for  a  reply,  however  short,  he  went  first  and  consulted  this 
intimate  council. 

"  He  dictated  to  them  the  terms  in  which  he  proposed 
answering  his  adversaries,  he  listened  to  their  remarks, 
he  noted  their  arguments,  he  wrote  down  his  reply,  he 


314  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


read  it  over  to  his  friends,  he  made,  so  to  speak,  the  trial  of 
his  inspiration  in  their  presence  before  doing  so  in  the 
presence  of  his  auditory.  He  had  too  much  respect  for  the 
tribune  to  present  himself  as  a  rhetorician  simply,  with 
words.  The  sense  and  the  manner  were  of  more  importance 
with  him  than  the  useless  facility  of  stringing  words  to- 
gether. It  was  from  this  meeting  he  used  to  come  out 
laden  with  ideas  for  his  improvisations,  as  also  for  his 
speeches. 

"  The  statesman  and  man  of  eloquence  left  nothing  to 
chance  that  he  could  himself  keep  for  reflection.  He  felt 
himself  speaking  before  posterity,  and  he  watched  from  afar 
over  his  renown." 

"  Mirabeau's  voice,"  says  Dumont,  "  was  full,  manly,  and 
sonorous ;  it  rilled  the  ear  and  pleased  it ;  always  sustained 
but  flexible,  he  made  himself  as  well  heard  when  lowering  it 
as  when  he  raised  it ;  he  could  run  over  comments  pro- 
nouncing the  final  words  with  so  much  care  that  not  one 
was  ever  lost.  His  usual  manner  was  rather  lagging ;  he 
began  with  a  little  embarrassment,  often  hesitated,  but  in  a 
way  that  called  forth  interest  ;  one  saw  him,  so  to  speak, 
seeking  the  expression  most  apt ;  discarding,  choosing, 
weighing  the  words,  till  he  became  animated,  and  the 
bellows  of  the  forge  were  in  full  play.  In  the  moments  of 
greatest  excitement,  the  feeling  that  made  him  lay  stress  on 
certain  words  to  expVess  their  force  prevented  his  being 
rapid  ;  he  had  a  great  dislike  to  French  volubility,  and  the 
false  zeal  which  he  called  the  thunder  and  storms  of  the 
opera.  He  never  lost  the  gravity  of  a  senator,  and  at  his 
first  beginning  his  fault  perhaps  was  a  little  preparation,  and 
a  little  pretention  ;  he  lifted  his  head  with  too  much  pride, 
and  sometimes  his  contempt  amounted  to  insolence.  What 
is  almost  beyond  belief  is,  that  they  managed  little  pencilled 
notes  to  reach  him  at  the  foot  of  the  tribune,  and  sometimes 
in  the  very  tribune  itself  (as  he  wrote  an  infinite  number  in 
the  Assembly),  and  that  he  had  the  power  of  reading  these 
notes  whilst  speaking,  and  introducing  them  into  his  speech. 
He  felt  himself  beautiful  in  his  ugliness  ;  when  preparing  his 


ORATORY  IN  FRANCE.  315 


speeches  he  would  proudly  display  and  contemplate  in  the 
glass  his  bust,  his  great  size,  and  his  strongly  marked  features, 
pitted  with  small-pox. 

"  '  The  great  power  of  my  ugliness/  he  said,  '  is  not 
known':  and  that  ugliness  he  thought  beautiful.  He  was 
very  carefully  and  well  dressed  ;  he  had  an  enormous  head 
of  hair,  artistically  arranged,  and  which  increased  the  size  of 
his  head.  '  When  I  shake  my  terribly  wild-looking  head,' 
he  used  to  say,  '  there  is  no  one  that  dares  to  interrupt  me.' 
He  very  willingly  placed  himself  before  a  large  glass,  looking 
at  himself  with  the  greatest  pleasure  whilst  speaking,  throw- 
ing his  head  back  and  squaring  his  shoulders.  He  had  that 
peculiarity  of  vain  men,  that  the  very  sound  of  their  names 
strikes  on  them  pleasantly,  and  who  can  like  even  to  repeat 
it  themselves. 

"  But  in  looking  for  the  characteristic  trait  of  his  genius,  I 
find  it  after  mature  reflection  in  the  political  sagacity,  the 
foreseeing  of  events,  and  the  knowledge  of  mankind  which 
he  appeared  to  me  to  possess  in  a  more  rare  and  eminent 
degree  than  all  the  other  qualities  of  the  mind.  In  this  re- 
spect, he  left  far  behind  him  the  most  distinguished  of  his 
colleagues.  There  were  moments  when,  he  said,  he  felt  as 
if  he  were  a  prophet,  and  he  seemed  in  fact  as  if  he  had  in- 
spiration of  the  future.  He  was  not  believed,  because  others 
could  not  see  as  far  as  he  did,  and  because  his  depression 
was  often  attributed  to  his  self-love  ;  but  I  know  at  the  time 
he  prognosticated  the  greatest  ill  to  the  monarchy  he  had 
the  most  exalted  idea  of  the  nation's  destiny  in  the  future." 

He  said  Necker  was  the  pigmy  of  the  Revolution. 
"  Malebranche,"  he  added,  "  saw  everything  through  God, 
Necker  sees  everything  through  Necker !  "  He  called 
d'Espremenil,  Crispin-Catilina ;  Lafayette,  Cromwell-Gran- 
disson,  or  Giles-Caesar.  Like  Voltaire,  by  reconciling  the 
two  names  which  contrasted,  he  gave  the  double  significa- 
tion of  the  pretention  and  helplessness  of  a  living  man.  He 
had  caricature  medals  struck  and  put  in  circulation  against 
those  he  did  not  esteem,  or  that  he  esteemed  sufficiently  to 
fear.  He  could  not  suffer  praise  to  be  decreed  to  men  of 


3 1 6  HISTOR  Y  OF  ORA  TOR  Y. 

small  genius.  These  praises  seemed  to  him  robberies  from 
the  men  to  whom  legitimately  belonged  true  glory. 

"  Doubts  have  been  raised  as  to  his  personal  courage," 
again  says  Dumont.  "  His  youth  proved  that  these  doubts 
were  calumnies.  But  he  very  wisely  formed  the  resolution 
to  refuse  all  single  combat  during  the  session  of  the  Northern 
Assembly.  '  Our  enemies/  he  said,  '  can  find  as  many  bravos 
as  they  like,  and  can,  by  duels,  release  themselves  of  all  who 
give  them  umbrage,  for  were  I  to  kill  even  ten,  I  should  my- 
self fall  as  the  eleventh.'  He  was  always  armed  with  pistols, 
and  his  servants  also,  like  himself.  He  often  feared  being 
assassinated.  He  was  adored  by  those  who  served  him  :  ex- 
ceedingly particular  in  his  dress,  he  spun  out  the  time  by  a 
thousand  trifles  with  his  valets-de-chambre  ;  he  read  little 
and  very  rapidly ;  by  a  glance  he  discovered  in  those  thou- 
sands of  pages  what  was  new  and  interesting.  He  wrote  a 
great  deal  and  with  great  rapidity — a  cramped  hand  ;  his 
hand-writing  resembled  hieroglyphic  characters. 

"  Copies  of  his  manuscripts  and  speeches  were  made  in  his 
house,  with  a  promptitude  which,  however,  did  not  satisfy 
his  impatience.  They  were  copied  one  after  the  other  ten  or 
twelve  times  to  attain  the  beauty  of  style  he  sought  to  give 
his  discourses.  His  hours  were  seized  on  by  the  public,  who 
beset  his  doors.  His  levees  were  those  of  a  prince.  They 
commenced  at  seven  in  the  morning,  and  continued  without 
interruption  up  to  the  hour  of  his  going  to  the  Assembly. 
Even  then,  his  stairs,  the  court-yard,  the  entrance  to  his 
house,  the  street,  were  all  filled  with  groups  assembled  from 
admiration  and  curiosity.  The  people  perceived  in  him, 
through  instinct,  the  royalty  of  human  intellect  and  the  only 
true  genius  of  the  revolution  and  the  country." 

Although  France  has  produced  some  excellent  orators 
since  the  days  of  Mirabeau,  she  has  had  none  of  extraordi- 
nary merit,  and  in  order  to  avoid  swelling  the  size  of  the 
present  volume,  the  author  has  not  given  a  sketch  of  the 
French  orators  since  the  Revolution. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

ORATORY   IN  AMERICA. 

IT  is  unquestionably  true  that  forensic  eloquence  should 
be  more  diligently  cultivated  by  the  American  bar 
than  it  is.  Framed  by  the  wisest  men,  cemented  by 
the  concurrence  of  succeeding  generations,  and  strengthened 
by  the  lapse  of  time,  our  laws  have  at  length  been  erected 
into  a  beautiful  system,  that  embraces  almost  every  imagi- 
nable point  of  the  personal  security  of  the  citizen,  but, 
extended  as  they  are,  and  calculated  for  this  beneficial 
purpose,  such  is  the  variety  of  circumstances  that  daily 
demand  its  attention,  and  such  consequently  are  its  numer- 
ous and  intricate  ramifications,  that  it  requires  a  peculiar 
learning,  and  a  distinct  mode  of  eloquence,  to  pursue  and 
apply  them  to  the  wrongs  they  are  intended  to  redress. 

It  is  true  that  the  advocate  should  not  indulge  too  often 
in  flights  of  the  imagination.  He  is  addressing  the  court  to 
protect  the  injured,  and  to  punish  the  oppressor,  by  the  due 
administration  of  known  and  settled  laws ;  and  therefore 
those  meretricious  arts,  whereby  the  unsteady  vulgar  alone 
are  moved,  will  be  of  little  avail.  But  when  he  considers 
that  his  auditory  are  freemen,  fulfilling  the  most  awful 
office  of  free  laws ;  that  their  decision  may  affect  the  future 
prosperity  of  thousands  ;  that  they  whose  life,  liberty,  or 
prosperity  is  at  stake  are  citizens,  by  their  birthright  en- 
titled to  a  clear  and  impartial  distribution  of  justice ;  that 
the  eyes  of  many,  interested  in  these  rights,  are  upon  the 
court  and  himself,  should  not  his  mind  be  animated  to  the 
dignified  fervour  of  a  plain  and  manly  eloquence,  that  seems 

317 


318  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


to  feel  the  importance  of  its  own  exertions,  and  that  seeks 
not  its  own  elevation  in  forms  and  phrases  of  speech  ? 

Immense  fortunes  are  at  stake  in  the  cases  tried  every 
day  in  our  courts  ;  in  other  cases  the  more  sacred  and  valua- 
ble rights  of  life,  liberty,  and  reputation  must  be  adjudicated. 
What  a  fine  field  is  here  for  the  unselfish,  the  conscientious, 
and  enlightened  advocate,  to  stand  between  oppressor  and 
I  oppressed  ! 

v       The   earliest  specimens  of  American  oratory  are  chiefly 
characterised  by  sublimity  and  patriotism. 

The  erection  of  the  magnificent  fabric  of  liberty  in  this 
country  called  forth  the  best  efforts  of  the  greatest  orators. 

An  ample  theme  was  afforded  by  the  Revolutionary  con- 
test, for  the  exhibition  of  all  that  is  indignant,  touching, 
daring,  grand,  and  overwhelming  in  eloquence,  consequently 
some  of  the  most  vehement  passages  that  ever  stirred  the 
human  soul  are  to  be  found  in  the  speeches  of  the  Revolu- 
tionary orators.  Then  it  was  that  the  orators  of  freedom 
fearlessly  raised  their  thunder  tones  against  oppression.  It 
was  the  brightest  period  in  the  history  of  British  and 
American  oratory. 

The  period  of  our  Colonial  and  Revolutionary  history 
was,  in  fact,  an  era  of  great  superiority  in  eloquence,  at 
home  and  abroad.  England  then  presented  an  array  of 
orators  such  as  she  had  known  at  no  other  time.  In  West- 
minster Hall  the  accomplished  Mansfield  was  constantly 
heard  in  support  of  kingly  power,  while  the  philosophic  and 
argumentative  Camden  exercised  his  mighty  intellect  in 
defence  of  popular  rights.  Burke  had  awoke  with  all  his 
wealth  of  fancy,  daring  imagination,  and  comprehensive 
learning.  Fox  had  entered  the  arena  of  forensic  and  sena- 
torial gladiatorship,  with  his  great,  glowing  heart,  and  titanic 
passions,  all  kindled  into  volcanic  heat.  Junius,  by  his  sar- 
casm and  audacity,  stung  the  loftiest  circles  into  despera- 
tion. Erskine  embellished  the  dark  heavens  by  the  rainbow 
tints  of  his  genius  ;  and  Chatham,  worthily  succeeded  by  his 
"  cloud-compelling "  son,  ruled  the  billowy  sea  of  excited 
mind  with  the  majesty  of  a  god. 


ORATORY  IN  AMERICA.  319 


James  Otis,  Patrick  Henry,  Samuel  Adams,  Josiah  Quincy, 
Joseph  Warren,  John  Hancock,  John  Adams,  and  Richard 
Henry  Lee,  were  among  the  most  renowned  American 
patriots  and  orators  who  flourished  during  the  period  of 
which  we  are  speaking. 

In  order  to  exhibit  the  style  of  oratory  prevalent  in  those 
days,  a  few  short  extracts  from  the  speeches  of  our  Revolu- 
tionary patriots  and  orators  will  be  given. 

While  the  glorious  banner  of  Liberty  shall  continue  to 
spread  its  folds  over  our  Republic,  the  patriotic  sentiments 
of  our  forefathers  cannot  be  repeated  without  thrilling 
emotions. 

No  true  American  can  read  the  eloquent  speech  of  Gen- 
eral Warren  on  the  Boston  massacre  without  being  deeply 
moved : 

"  The  voice  of  your  father's  blood  cries  to  you  from  the 
ground,  '  My  sons,  scorn  to  be  slaves !  '  In  vain  we  met  the 
frowns  of  tyrants ;  in  vain  we  crossed  the  boisterous  ocean, 
found  a  New  World,  and  prepared  it  for  the  happy  residence 
of  liberty  ;  in  vain  we  toiled,  in  vain  we  fought,  we  bled  in 
vain,  if  you  our  offspring  want  valor  to  repel  the  assaults  of 
her  invaders  ! — stain  not  the  glory  of  your  worthy  ancestors  ; 
but,  like  them,  resolve  never  to  part  with  your  birthright. 
Be  wise  in  your  deliberations,  and  determined  in  your  exer- 
tions for  the  preservation  of  your  liberties.  Follow  not  the 
dictates  of  passion,  but  enlist  yourselves  under  the  sacred 
banner  of  reason.  Use  every  method  in  your  power  to  se- 
cure your  rights.  At  least,  prevent  the  curses  of  posterity 
from  being  heaped  upon  your  memories. 

"  If  you,  with  united  zeal  and  fortitude,  oppose  the  torrent 
of  oppression ;  if  you  feel  the  true  fire  of  patriotism  burn- 
ing in  your  breasts  ;  if  you  from  your  souls  despise  the  most 
gaudy  dress  that  slavery  can  wear  ;  if  you  really  prefer  the 
lowly  cottage  (whilst  blessed  with  liberty)  to  gilded  palaces, 
surrounded  with  the  ensigns  of  slavery, — you  may  have  the 
fullest  assurance  that  tyranny,  with  her  whole  accursed 
train,  will  hide  their  hideous  heads  in  confusion,  shame,  and 
despair.  If  you  perform  your  part,  you  must  have  the 


320  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


strongest  confidence  that  the  same  Almighty  Being,  who 
protected  your  pious  and  venerable  forefathers,  who  enabled 
them  to  turn  a  barren  wildernesss  into  a  fruitful  field,  who 
so  often  made  bare  his  arm  for  their  salvation,  will  still  be 
mindful  of  you,  their  offspring. 

"  May  this  Almighty  Being  graciously  preside  in  all  our 
councils.  May  He  direct  us  to  such  measures  as  He  Him- 
self shall  approve,  and  be  pleased  to  bless.  May  we  ever  be 
a,  people  favored  of  God.  May  our  land  be  a  land  of  liberty, 
the  seat  of  virtue,  the  asylum  of  the  oppressed,  a  name  and 
a  praise  in  the  whole  earth,  until  the  last  shock  of  time  shall 
bury  the  empires  of  the  world  in  one  common,  undistin- 
guished ruin." 

The  language  of  Quincy  is  similar  to  this.  Just  before 
the  Revolutionary  war  he  addressed  his  townsmen  in  an 
eloquent  speech,  from  which  the  following  is  an  extract : 
"  Oh,  my  countrymen !  what  will  our  children  say  when 
they  read  the  history  of  these  times,  should  they  find  we 
tamely  gave  way,  without  one  noble  struggle,  the  most  in- 
valuable of  earthly  blessings?  As  they  drag  the  galling 
chain,  will  they  not  execrate  us?  If  we  have  any  respect 
for  things  sacred  ;  any  regard  to  the  dearest  treasure  on 
earth  ;  if  we  have  one  tender  sentiment  for  posterity ;  if  we 
would  not  be  despised  by  the  world,  let  us,  in  the  most 
open,  solemn  manner,  and  with  determined  fortitude  swear, 
— we  will  die, — if  we  cannot  live  freemen  !  " 

John  Hancock,  on  the  5th  of  March,  1774,  made  a  stirring 
speech  to  the  citizens  of  Boston,  which  was  concluded  with 
the  following  elevated  sentiments :  "  I  have  the  most  ani- 
mating confidence,  that  the  present  noble  struggle  for  lib- 
erty will  terminate  gloriously  for  America.  And  let  us  play 
the  man  for  our  God,  and  for  the  cities  of  our  God ;  while 
we  are  using  the  means  in  our  power,  let  us  humbly  commit 
our  righteous  cause  to  the  great  Lord  of  the  Universe,  who 
loveth  righteousness  and  hateth  iniquity.  And  having  se- 
cured the  approbation  of  our  hearts,  by  a  faithful  and  un- 
wearied discharge  of  our  duty  to  our  country,  let  us  joyfully 
leave  our  concerns  in  the  hands  of  Him  who  raiseth  up  and 
pulleth  down  the  empires  and  kingdoms  of  the  world." 


ORATORY  IN  AMERICA.  321 


The  denunciations  which  he  poured  forth  in  his  oration 
on  the  Boston  Massacre  are  a  striking  example  of  Hancock's 
style :  "  Let  this  sad  tale  of  death  never  be  told  without  a 
tear  ;  let  not  the  heaving  bosom  cease  to  burn  with  a  manly 
indignation  at  the  relation  of  it  through  the  long  tracts  of 
future  time  ;  let  every  parent  tell  the  shameful  story  to  his 
listening  children  till  tears  of  pity  glisten  in  their  eyes,  or 
boiling  passion  shakes  their  tender  frames. 

"  Dark  and  designing  knaves,  murderers,  parricides !  how 
dare  you  tread  upon  the  earth  which  has  drunk  the  blood  of 
slaughtered  innocence,  shed  by  your  hands?  How  dare  you 
breathe  that  air  which  wafted  to  the  ear  of  heaven  the 
groans  of  those  who  fell  a  sacrifice  to  your  accursed  ambi- 
tion. But  if  the  laboring  earth  does  not  expand  her  jaws — 
if  the  air  you  breathe  is  not  commissioned  to  be  the  minister 
of  death — yet,  hear  it,  and  tremble.  The  eye  of  heaven 
penetrates  the  secret  chambers  of  the  soul ;  and  you,  though 
screened  from  human  observation,  must  be  arraigned — must 
lift  your  hands,  red  with  the  blood  of  those  whose  death 
you  have  procured,  at  the  tremendous  bar  of  God." 

Such  was  the  impassioned  oratory  which  fell  from  the 
lips  of  the  first  orators  of  freedom  in  this  country. 

Hamilton. — Alexander  Hamilton  was  born  January  the 
nth,  1757,  in  the  island  of  Nevis,  the  most  beautiful  of  the 
British  West  Indies. 

He  was  early  left  to  buffet  the  storms  of  adversity,  his 
parents  having  died  when  he  was  very  young.  In  1769  he 
was  placed  as  a  clerk  in  the  counting-house  of  Mr.  Nicholas 
Cruger,  a  wealthy  and  highly  respected  merchant  of  Santa 
Cruz. 

Hamilton  had  an  aspiring  mind,  and  when  only  thirteen 
years  old,  he  wrote  to  a  young  friend  at  school  as  follows: 
"  I  contemn  the  grovelling  condition  of  a  clerk,  to  which 
my  fortune  condemns  me,  and  would  willingly  risk  my  life, 
though  not  my  character,  to  exalt  my  station  ;  I  mean  to 
prepare  the  way  for  futurity." 

The  sentiments  which  Hamilton  expressed  in  his  letter 
were  those  of  a  noble  youth,  eagerly  desirous  of  achieving 


322  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


fame,  but  with  the  strongest  attachment  to  untarnished 
integrity,  —  guarantees  of  the  splendid  success  which  he 
achieved  in  after  years. 

Hamilton  prosecuted  his  studies,  while  with  Mr.  Cruger, 
with  the  greatest  diligence,  giving  all  his  spare  time  to  his 
books.  Some  of  his  youthful  compositions  were  published, 
and  the  talent  which  he  displayed  in  writing  them,  induced 
his  friends  to  send  him  to  New  York  for  the  purpose  of 
completing  his  education.  He  arrived  in  this  country  in 
October,  1772,  and  was  placed  at  a  grammar  school  in  Eliza- 
beth, N.  J.,  under  the  instruction  of  Francis  Barber,  after- 
ward a  distinguished  officer  in  the  American  army. 

Hamilton  entered  King's  (now  Columbia)  College,  where 
he  soon  "gave  extraordinary  displays  of  genius  and  energy 
of  mind." 

Here,  while  a  student,  Hamilton  began  his  glorious  politi- 
cal career,  performing  services  for  his  country  which  will 
cause  his  name  to  shine  forever  in  the  annals  of  our  country. 

In  college,  Hamilton  pursued  with  the  greatest  assiduity 
those  studies  which  his  natural  tastes  and  glowing  ambition 
required.  His  powerful  mind,  versatile  pen,  and  eloquent 
voice  were  from  the  first  employed  in  defending  colonial 
opposition  to  the  acts  of  the  British  Parliament. 

He  wrote,  anonymously,  in  December,  1774,  and  Febru- 
ary, 1775,  several  pamphlets  in  favor  of  the  pacific  measures 
of  defence  recommended  by  Congress. 

At  that  early  day  Hamilton  suggested  the  policy  of  giving 
encouragement  to  domestic  manufactures,  as  a  sure  means 
of  lessening  the  needs  of  external  commerce.  "  He  antici- 
pated ample  resources  at  home,  and,  among  other  things, 
observed  that  several  of  the  southern  colonies  were  so  favor- 
able in  their  soil  and  climate  to  the  growth  of  cotton,  that 
such  a  staple  alone,  with  due  cultivation,  in  a  year  or  two 
would  afford  products  sufficient  to  clothe  the  whole  conti- 
nent. He  insisted  upon  our  unalienable  right  to  the  steady, 
uniform,  unshaken  security  of  constitutional  freedom  ;  to 
the  enjoyment  of  trial  by  jury  ;  and  to  the  right  of  freedom 
from  taxation,  except  by  our  own  immediate  representa- 


ORATORY  IN  AMERICA.  323 


tives,  and  that  colonial  legislation  was  an  inherent  right, 
never  to  be  abandoned  or  impaired." 

"  Freedom  or  Death,"  was  the  motto  inscribed  on  the 
leathern  caps  which  he  and  his  fellow-students  wore  as 
members  of  the  military  corps  which  he  organised  while  at 
college.  Hamilton  was  not  only  busy  promoting  measures 
of  resistance,  but  at  the  same  time  he  mastered  the  science 
of  political  economy,  the  laws  of  commerce,  the  balance  of 
trade,  and  the  circulating  medium,  so  that  when  these  topics 
came  afterward  to  be  discussed,  Hamilton  was  fully  pre- 
pared to  take  his  part  in  the  discussion. 

The  author  regrets  that  he  is  not  permitted  by  the  nature 
of  this  work  to  record  all  the  achievements  of  the  great 
Hamilton  in  the  Cabinet,  the  Field  and  the  Forum.  He  can 
only  say  that  Hamilton  entered  the  army  in  1776,  and  be- 
came the  inseparable  companion  of  the  peerless  Washington, 
and  continued  with  him  till  1781.  He  took  part  in  the 
battles  of  Brandywine,  Germantown,  and  Monmouth ;  and 
he  led,  at  his  own  request,  at  the  siege  of  Yorktown,  the  de- 
tachment which  carried  by  assault  one  of  the  strongest 
outworks  of  the  foe. 

The  first  political  speech  to  a  popular  assembly  was  de- 
livered by  Hamilton  at  "the  great  meeting  in  the  fields,"  as 
it  was  called.  The  object  of  it  was  to  choose  delegates  to 
the  first  Congress.  He  was  at  that  time  a  student  in  King's 
College,  and  was  very  juvenile  in  appearance.  As  Hamilton 
was  unexpectedly  called  upon,  his  effort  was  unpremedi- 
tated, and  at  first  he  hesitated  and  faltered,  being  awed  by 
the  immense  audience  before  him.  His  youthful  counte- 
nance, slender  form,  and  novel  aspect,  awakened  curiosity 
and  excited  universal  attention.  The  "  infant  orator,"  as 
they  called  him,  astonished  and  electrified  the  vast  mul- 
titude. 

After  discussing  in  an  able  and  striking  manner  the  im- 
portant principles  involved,  he  depicted  in  glowing  colours 
the  long-continued  and  constantly  aggravated  oppressions 
of  the  mother  country.  In  speaking  upon  this  topic  he 
burst  forth  in  a  strain  of  bold  and  thrilling  eloquence.  He 


324  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


said,  in  part :  "  The  sacred  rights  of  mankind  are  not  to  be 
rumaged  for  among  old  parchments  or  musty  records  ;  they 
are  written  as  with  a  sunbeam  in  the  whole  volume  of  human 
nature,  by  the  hand  of  Divinity  itself,  and  can  never  be 
erased  or  obscured  by  mortal  power." 

Hamilton  insisted  on  the  duty  of  resistance,  pointed  out 
the  means  and  certainty  of  success,  and  described  "  the 
waves  of  rebellion  sparkling  with  fire,  and  washing  back  on 
the  shores  of  England  the  wrecks  of  her  power,  her  wealth, 
and  her  glory."  Under  this  spontaneous  burst  of  mature 
eloquence  from  lips  so  youthful,  the  vast  multitude  first  sank 
in  awe  and  surprise,  and  then  arose  with  irrepressible  aston- 
ishment. The  death-like  silence  ceased  as  he  closed,  and 
repeated  huzzas  resounded  to  the  heavens. 

At  the  age  of  thirty-eight,  in  1795,  Hamilton  resumed  the 
practice  of  the  law,  in  New  York,  where  he  continued  in 
active  professional  pursuits  until  the  tragical  close  of  his 
life. 

At  that  time  Hamilton  was  under  the  middle  size,  thin  in 
person,  but  remarkably  erect  and  dignified  in  his  deportment. 
His  hair  was  turned  back  from  his  forehead,  powdered,  and 
collected  in  a  club  behind.  His  complexion  was  exceedingly 
fair,  and  varying  from  this  only  by  the  delicate  rosiness  of  his 
cheeks.  In  form  and  tint  his  face  was  considered  uncom- 
monly handsome.  When  in  repose,  it  bore  a  serene  and 
thoughtful  expression  ;  but  when  engaged  in  conversation, 
it  immediately  assumed  an  attractive  smile.  His  ordinary 
costume  was  a  blue  coat  with  bright  buttons,  the  skirts  being 
unusually  long ;  he  wore  a  white  waistcoat,  black  silk  small 
clothes,  and  white  silk  stockings.  His  appearance  and  de- 
portment accorded  with  the  exalted  distinction  which,  by  his 
stupendous  public  services,  he  had  attained.  His  voice  was 
engagingly  pleasant,  and  his  whole  mien  commanded  the 
respect  due  to  a  master-mind.  His  natural  frankness  in- 
spired the  most  affectionate  attachment ;  and  his  splendid 
talents,  as  is  usual,  elicited  the  firmest  love  and  the  most 
furious  hate.  One  of  the  ablest  writers  of  modern  times 
pays  him  the  following  high  compliment  as  a  statesman: 


ORA  TOR  Y  IN  AMERICA.  $2$ 


"  Hamilton  must  be  classed  among  the  men  who  have  best 
known  the  vital  principles  and  the  fundamental  conditions 
of  a  government ;  not  of  a  government  such  as  this  (France) 
but  of  a  government  worthy  of  its  mission  and  of  its  name. 
There  is  not  in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  an 
element  of  order,  of  force,  or  of  duration,  which  he  has  not 
powerfully  contributed  to  introduce  into  it  and  caused  to 
predominate." 

The  following  account  has  been  given  of  Hamilton's  elo- 
quence :  "  The  eloquence  of  Hamilton  was  said  to  be 
persuasive  and  commanding ;  the  more  likely  to  be  so,  as 
he  had  no  guide  but  the  impulse  of  a  great  and  rich  mind, 
he  having  had  little  opportunity  to  be  trained  at  the  bar  or 
in  popular  assemblies. 

Those  who  could  speak  of  his  manner  from  the  best  oppor- 
tunities to  observe  him,  in  public  and  in  private,  concurred 
in  pronouncing  him  to  be  a  frank,  amiable,  high-minded, 
open-hearted  gentlemen.  He  was  capable  of  inspiring  the 
most  affectionate  attachment ;  but  he  could  make  those 
whom  he  opposed,  fear  and  hate  him  cordially. 

He  was  capable  of  intense  and  effectual  application,  as  is 
abundantly  proved  by  his  public  labours.  But  he  had  a 
rapidity  and  clearness  of  perception  in  which  he  may  not 
have  been  equalled.  One,  who  knew  his  habits  of  study, 
said  of  him,  that  when  he  had  a  serious  object  to  accom- 
plish, his  practice  was  to  reflect  on  it  previously ;  and  when 
he  had  gone  through  his  labour,  he  retired  to  sleep  without 
regard  to  the  hour  of  the  night,  and  having  slept  six  or  seven 
hours,  he  rose,  and  having  taken  strong  coffee,  seated  him- 
self at  his  table,  where  he  would  remain  six,  seven,  or  eight 
hours ;  and  the  product  of  his  rapid  pen  required  little  cor- 
rection for  the  press.  He  was  among  the  few,  alike  excel- 
lent, "whether  in  speaking  or  in  writing.  In  private  and 
friendly  intercourse,  he  is  said  to  have  been  exceedingly 
amiable,  and  to  have  been  affectionately  beloved. 

It  has  been  said  that  he  "  was  the  most  sagacious  and 
laborious  of  our  Revolutionary  orators.  He  anticipated 
time  and  interrogated  history  with  equal  ease  and  ardour. 


326  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 

He  explored  the  archives  of  his  own  land,  and  drew  from 
foreign  courts  the  quintessence  of  their  ministerial  wisdom. 
He  illuminated  the  councils  where  Washington  presided, 
and  with  him  guarded  our  youthful  nation  with  the  eyes  of 
a  lynx,  and  the  talons  of  a  vulture." 

Hamilton's  political  writings  will  be  read  with  interest 
while  time  lasts.  Aside  from  the  seductive  charms  of  his 
style,  the  comprehensive  and  valuable  thoughts  upon  the 
science  of  government,  which  they  contain,  render  them 
invaluable  to  the  statesman  earnestly  desirous  of  promoting 
the  public  welfare. 

Fisher  Ames  said  :  "  That  writer  would  deserve  the  fame 
of  a  public  benefactor  who  could  exhibit  the  character  of 
Hamilton,  with  the  truth  and  force  that  all  who  intimately 
knew  him  conceived  it ;  his  example  would  then  take  the 
same  ascendant  as  his  talents.  The  portrait  alone,  how- 
ever exquisitely  finished,  could  not  inspire  genius  where  it 
is  not ;  but  if  the  world  should  again  have  possession  of  so 
rare  a  gift,  it  might  awaken  it  where  it  sleeps,  as  by  a  spark 
from  Heaven's  own  altar;  for  surely  if  there  is  anything  like 
divinity  in  man,  it  is  in  his  admiration  for  virtue. 

"  The  country  deeply  laments  when  it  turns  its  eyes  back 
and  sees  what  Hamilton  was;  but  my  soul  stiffens  with 
despair  when  I  think  what  Hamilton  would  have  been.  It 
is  not  as  Apollo,  enchanting  the  shepherds  with  his  lyre, 
that  we  deplore  him  ;  it  is  as  Hercules,  treacherously  slain 
in  the  midst  of  his  unfinished  labours,  leaving  the  world 
over  run  with  monsters." 

It  is  unnecessary  to  give  an  account  of  the  fatal  duel  by 
which  Hamilton  lost  his  life  in  1804.  The  facts  are  univer- 
sally known. 

The  following  extract  will  serve  to  illustrate  the  style  of 
Hamilton's  political  oratory.  It  is  on  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States : 

"  After  all  our  doubts,  our  suspicions,  and  speculations,  on 
the  subject  of  Government,  we  must  return,  at  last,  to  this 
important  truth, — that,  when  we  have  formed  a  Constitution 
upon  free  principles,  when  we  have  given  a  proper  balance 


ORATORY  IN  AMERICA.  327 


to  the  different  branches  of  Administration,  and  fixed  Repre- 
sentation upon  pure  and  equal  principles,  we  may,  with 
safety,  furnish  it  with  the  powers  necessary  to  answer,  in  the 
most  ample  manner,  the  purposes  of  Government.  The 
great  desiderata  are  a  free  Representation,  and  mutual 
checks.  When  these  are  obtained,  all  our  apprehensions  of 
the  extent  of  powers  are  unjust  and  imaginary.  What,  then, 
is  the  structure  of  this  Constitution?  One  branch  of  the 
Legislature  is  to  be  elected  by  the  People,— by  the  same 
People  who  choose  your  State  Representatives.  Its  mem- 
bers are  to  hold  their  office  two  years,  and  then  return  to 
their  constitutents.  Here,  Sir,  the  People  govern.  Here 
they  act  by  their  immediate  Representatives.  You  have 
also  a  Senate,  constituted  by  your  State  Legislatures, — by 
men  in  whom  you  place  the  highest  confidence, — and  form- 
ing another  Representative  branch.  Then,  again,  you  have 
an  Executive  Magistrate,  created  by  a  form  of  election 
which  merits  universal  admiration. 

"  In  the  form  of  this  Government,  and  in  the  mode  of  Leg- 
islation, you  find  all  the  checks  which  the  greatest  politicans 
and  the  best  writers  have  ever  conceived.  What  more  can 
reasonable  men  desire  ?  Is  there  any  one  branch  in  which 
the  whole  Legislative  and  Executive  powers  are  lodged  ? 
No !  The  Legislative  authority  is  lodged  in  three  distinct 
branches,  properly  balanced ;  the  Executive  authority  is 
divided  between  two  branches;  and  the  Judicial  is  still 
reserved  for  an  independent  body,  who  hold  their  office 
during  good  behaviour.  This  organisation  is  so  complex,  so 
skilfully  contrived,  that  it  is  next  to  impossible  that  an 
impolitic  or  wicked  measure  should  pass  the  great  scrutiny 
with  success.  Now,  what  do  Gentlemen  mean,  by  coming 
forward  and  declaiming  against  this  Government?  Why 
do  they  say  we  ought  to  limit  its  powers,  to  disable  it,  and 
to  destroy  its  capacity  of  blessing  the  People?  Has  phi- 
losophy suggested,  has  experience  taught,  that  such  a  Gov- 
ernment ought  not  to  be  trusted  with  everything  necessary 
for  the  good  of  society?  Sir,  when  you  have  divided  and 
nicely  balanced  the  departments  of  Government ;  when  you 


328  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


have  strongly  connected  the  virtue  of  your  rulers  with  their 
interests  ;  when,  in  short,  you  have  rendered  your  system 
as  perfect  as  human  forms  can  be, — you  must  place  confi- 
dence ;  you  must  give  power." 

Hamilton  won  for  himself,  the  most  imperishable  renown. 
He  will  always  be  affectionately  remembered  by  the  lovers 
of  liberty  throughout  the  world,  as  the  soldier  of  the  revolu- 
tion— the  friend  and  confidant  of  Washington — the  founder 
of  the  American  system  of  finance — the  enlightened  states- 
man— the  great  counsellor — the  magnificent  orator — and  the 
man  of  probity,  tried  and  spotless. 

Henry. — Patrick  Henry  was  born  on  the  2Qth  day  of  May, 
1736,  in  the  County  of  Hanover,  and  Colony  of  Virginia. 

Mr.  Henry's  youth  gave  no  presage  of  his  future  greatness. 
He  was  idle  and  lazy,  and  spent  most  of  his  time  in  fishing, 
hunting,  and  playing  the  violin.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he 
was  established  in  trade  by  his  father,  but  through  idleness, 
the  love  of  music  and  the  charms  of  the  chase  and  a  readi- 
ness to  trust  every  one,  he  soon  became  bankrupt.  While  a 
merchant  he  studied  human  nature  continually.  Not  in 
reference  to  the  honesty  and  solvency  of  his  customers,  but 
in  relation  to  the  structure  of  their  minds  and  opinions. 

By  endeavouring,  constantly,  to  make  political,  and  other 
subjects  understood  by  his  illiterate  hearers,  he  became  a 
master  of  that  clear  and  simple  style  which  forms  the  best 
vehicle  of  thought  to  a  popular  assembly.  He  was  also  in- 
structed by  these  exercises  in  those  topics  of  persuasion  by 
which  men  are  most  certainly  to  be  moved,  and  in  the  kind 
of  imagery  and  structure  of  language  which  were  the  best 
fitted  to  strike  and  agitate  their  hearts. 

Mr.  Henry  studied  law  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at 
the  age  of  twenty-four. 

The  controversy  in  1763,  between  the  clergy,  and  the 
Legislature  of  Virginia,  touching  the  stipend  of  the  former, 
was  the  occasion  when  Mr.  Henry  made  his  first  public 
appearance,  as  a  lawyer. 

Says  Mr.  Wirt :  "  On  this  first  trial  of  his  strength,  he 
rose  very  awkwardly,  and  faltered  much  in  his  exordium. 


ORATORY  IN  AMERICA.  329 


The  people  hung  their  heads  at  so  unpromising  a  commence- 
ment, the  clergy  were  observed  to  exchange  sly  looks  with 
each  other,  and  his  father  is  described  as  having  almost  sunk 
,  with  confusion  from  his  seat.  But  these  feelings  were  of 
short  duration,  and  soon  gave  place  to  others,  of  a  very  dif- 
ferent character.  For,  now  were  these  wonderful  faculties 
which  he  possessed  for  the  first  time  developed  ;  and  now 
was  first  witnessed  that  mysterious  and  almost  supernatural 
transformation  of  appearance,  which  the  fire  of  his  own  elo- 
quence never  failed  to  work  in  him.  For,  as  his  mind  rolled 
along  and  began  to  glow  from  its  own  action,  all  the  exuvia 
of  the  clown  seemed  to  shed  themselves  spontaneously. 
His  attitude  by  degrees  became  erect  and  lofty.  The  spirit 
of  his  genius  awakened  all  his  features.  His  countenance 
shone  with  a  nobleness  and  grandeur  which  it  had  never 
be'fdre  exhibited.  There  was  a  lightning  in  his  eyes  which 
seemed  to  rive  the  spectator.  His  action  became  bold, 
graceful,  and  commanding ;  and  in  the  tones  of  his  voice, 
but  more  especially  in  his  emphasis,  there  was  a  peculiar 
charm,  a  magic,  of  which  any  one  who  ever  heard  him  will 
speak  as  soon  as  he  is  named,  but  of  which  no  one  can  give 
any  adequate  description.  They  can  only  say  that  it  struck 
upon  the  ear  and  upon  the  heart,  in  a  manner  which  lan- 
guage cannot  tell.  Add  to  all  these  his  underworking  fancy, 
and  the  peculiar  phraseology  in  which  he  clothed  its  images  ; 
for  he  painted  to  the  heart  with  a  force  that  almost  petrified 
it.  In  the  language  of  those  who  heard  him  on  this  occasion, 
4  he  made  their  blood  run  cold,  and  their  hair  to  rise  on  end.' 
"  It  will  not  be  difficult  for  any  one  who  ever  heard  this 
most  extraordinary  man,  to  believe  the  whole  account  of 
this  transaction  which  is  given  by  his  surviving  hearers  ;  and 
from  their  account,  the  court-house  of  Hanover  County 
must  have  exhibited,  on  this  occasion,  a  scene  as  picturesque 
as  has  ever  been  witnessed  in  real  life.  They  say  that  the 
people,  whose  countenance  had  fallen  as  he  arose,  had  heard 
but  a  very  few  sentences  before  they  began  to  look  up ; 
then  to  look  at  each  other  in  surprise,  as  if  doubting  the 
evidence  of  their  own  senses;  then  attracted  by  some  strong 


330  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


gesture,  struck  by  some  majestic  attitude,  fascinated  by  the 
spell  of  his  eye,  the  charm  of  his  emphasis,  and  the  varied 
and  commanding  expression  of  his  countenance,  they  could 
look  away  no  more.  In  less  than  twenty  minutes  they 
might  be  seen  in  every  part  of  the  house,  on  every  bench,  in 
every  window,  stooping  forward  from  their  stands,  in  death- 
less silence ;  their  features  fixed  in  amazement  and  awe ;  all 
their  senses  listening  and  riveted  upon  the  speaker,  as  if  to 
catch  the  last  strain  of  some  heavenly  visitant.  The  mock- 
ery of  the  clergy  was  soon  turned  into  alarm  ;  their  triumph 
into  confusion  and  despair ;  and  at  one  burst  of  his  rapid 
and  overwhelming  invective,  they  fled  from  the  bench  in 
precipitation  and  terror.  As  for  the  father,  such  was  his 
surprise,  such  his  amazement,  such  his  rapture,  that,  for- 
getting where  he  was,  and  the  character  which  he  was 
filling,  tears  of  ecstacy  streamed  down  his  cheeks,  without 
the  power  or  inclination  to  repress  them.  The  jury  seemed 
to  have  been  completely  bewildered  ;  for,  thoughtless  even 
of  the  admitted  right  of  the  plaintiff,  they  had  scarcely  left 
the  bar  when  they  returned  with  a  verdict  of  one  penny 
damages.  A  motion  was  made  for  a  new  trial  ;  but  the  court, 
too,  had  now  lost  the  equipose  of  their  judgment,  and  over- 
ruled the  motion  by  a  unanimous  vote.  The  verdict  and 
judgment  overruling  the  motion,  were  followed  by  redoubled 
acclamations  from  within  and  without  the  house.  The 
people,  who  had  with  difficulty  kept  their  hands  off  their 
champion,  from  the  motion  of  closing  his  harangue,  no 
sooner  saw  the  fate  of  the  cause  finally  sealed,  than  they 
seized  him  at  the  bar,  and  in  spite  of  his  own  exertions,  and 
the  continued  cry  of '  order  '  from  the  sheriffs  and  the  court, 
they  bore  him  out  of  the  court-house,  and  raising  him  upon 
their  shoulders,  carried  him  about  the  yard  in  a  kind  of 
electioneering  triumph." 

As  a  member  of  the  House  of  Burgesses  in  1765,  Mr. 
Henry  introduced  his  resolutions  against  the  Stamp  Act, 
which  proved  the  opening  of  the  American  Revolution  in 
the  colony  of  Virginia.  It  was  in  the  midst  of  the  debate 
upon  those  resolutions  that  he  "  exclaimed,  in  a  voice  of 


ORATORY  IN  AMERICA.  331 


thunder  and  with  the  look  of  a  god,  *  Caesar  had  his  Brutus 
— Charles  the  First  his  Cromwell — and  George  the  Third — 
["  Treason  "  cried  the  Speaker ;  "  treason  !  treason  !  "  echoed 
from  every  part  of  the  house.  Henry  faltered  not  for  an 
instant,  but  rising  to  a  loftier  attitude,  and  fixing  on  the 
Speaker  an  eye  of  the  most  determined  fire,  finished  his  sen- 
tence with  the  firmest  emphasis] — may  profit  by  their  example. 
If  this  be  treason,  make  the  most  of  it.'  ' 

At  Philadelphia,  in  Carpenter's  Hall,  the  first  Congress 
met  on  the  4th  of  September,  1774.  This  assembly  was 
composed  of  the  most  prominent  men  of  the  several  col- 
onies, on  the  wisdom  of  whose  councils  was  staked  the 
liberties  of  the  colonists,  and  their  posterity.  The  first 
meeting  is  described  as  "  awfully  solemn.  They  had  been 
called  together  to  consider  a  subject  of  incalculable  magni- 
tude." Mr.  Henry  rose  slowly,  as  if  borne  down  with  the 
weight  of  the  subject,  and,  after  faltering,  according  to  his 
habit,  through  a  most  impressive  exordium,  he  launched 
gradually  into  a  recital  of  colonial  wrongs.  Rising,  as  he 
advanced,  with  the  grandeur  of  his  subject,  and  glowing  at 
length  with  all  the  majesty  and  expectation  of  the  occasion, 
his  speech  seemed  more  than  that  of  mortal  man.  There 
was  no  rant,  no  rhapsody,  no  labour  of  the  understanding,  no 
straining  of  the  voice,  no  confusion  of  the  utterance.  His 
countenance  was  erect,  his  eye  steady,  his  action  noble,  his 
enunciation  clear  and  firm,  his  mind  poised  on  its  centre,  his 
views  of  his  subject  comprehensive  and  great,  and  his  im- 
agination coruscating  with  a  magnificence  and  a  variety 
which  struck  even  that  assembly  with  amazement  and  awe. 
He  sat  down  amid  murmurs  of  astonishment  and  applause, 
and  as  he  had  been  proclaimed  the  greatest  orator  of  Vir- 
ginia, he  was  now,  on  every  hand,  admitted  to  be  the  first 
orator  of  America. 

Mr.  Henry  in  his  youth  was  indifferent  to  dress,  but  he 
became  more  refined  as  he  rose  in  experience  and  influence 
His  appearance,  however,  was  at  all  times  wonderfully  im- 
pressive. "  He  was  nearly  six  feet  high,  spare  and  raw- 
boned,  with  a  slight  stoop  of  his  shoulders.  His  complexion 


332  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


was  dark  and  sallow ;  his  natural  expression  grave,  thoughtful 
and  penetrating.  He  was  gifted  with  a  strong  and  musical 
voice,  often  rendered  doubly  fascinating  by  the  mild  splen- 
dours of  his  brilliant  blue  eyes.  When  animated  he  spoke 
with  the  greatest  variety  of  manner  and  tone.  .  .  . 

"  Gleams  of  passion  inter-penetrating  the  masses  of  his  logic, 
rendered  him  a  spectacle  of  delight  to  the  friendly  spectator, 
or  of  dread  to  his  antagonist.  He  was  careless  in  dress, 
and  sometimes  intentionally  and  extravagantly  awkward  in 
movement ;  but  always,  like  the  phosphorescent  stone  at 
Bologna,  he  was  less  rude  than  glowing.  He  could  be 
vehement,  insinuating,  humorous  and  sarcastic  by  turns, 
and  to  every  sort  of  style  he  gave  the  highest  effect.  He 
was  an  orator  by  nature  and  of  the  highest  class,  combining 
all  those  traits  of  figure  and  intellect,  action  and  utterance, 
which  have  indissolubly  linked  his  brilliant  name  with  the 
history  of  his  country's  emancipation." 

Patrick  Henry  had  great  moral  courage,  and  moral  courage 
is  the  true  basis  of  oratorical  success.  In  order  to  be  effec- 
tive, the  orator  must  think  vigorously,  and  say  what  he 
thinks,  fearlessly.  When  the  welfare  of  his  country  demands 
it,  he  must  exhibit  the  courage  of  the  soldier  on  the  field  of 
battle,  and  express  his  opinions  on  all  subjects  at  the  hazard 
of  his  life,  or  of  his  earthly  possessions.  He  is  not  worthy 
to  be  called  an  orator,  in  the  true  sense  of  the  word,  unless 
he  has  this  patriotic  heroism  and  firmness. 

Mr.  Henry  was  happily  endowed  with  that  rich  imagination 
which  gives  vitality  to  the  body  of  thought,  and  which  is 
essential  to  the  success  of  the  great  orator.  He  was  deeply 
imbued  with  that  vehemence  of  conviction,  that  oratorical 
action,  which  modulates  the  tones,  tinges  the  visage  with 
irresistible  power,  and  suggests  to  the  hearer  more  than 
articulated  language  can  express. 

From  his  magnificent  speech  advising  resistance  to  British 
aggression,  delivered  on  the  23d  of  March,  1775,  in  the  old 
church  at  Richmond,  the  following  is  an  extract  : 

"  MR.  PRESIDENT  :  It  is  natural  to  man  to  indulge  in  the 
illusions  of  Hope.  We  are  apt  to  shut  our  eyes  against  a 


ORA  TOR  Y  IN  AMERICA.  333 


painful  truth,  and  listen  to  the  song  of  that  siren,  till  she 
transforms  us  into  beasts.  Is  this  the  part  of  wise  men,  en- 
gaged in  a  great  and  arduous  struggle  for  liberty.  Are  we 
disposed  to  be  of  the  number  of  those,  who,  having  eyes,  see 
not,  and  having  ears,  hear  not,  the  things  which  so  nearly 
concern  our  temporal  salvation?  For  my  part,  whatever 
anguish  of  spirit  it  may  cost,  I  am  willing  to  know  the  whole 
truth, — to  know  the  worst  and  to  provide  for  it ! 

" 1  have  but  one  lamp,  by  which  my  feet  are  guided ;  and 
that  is  the  lamp  of  experience.  I  know  of  no  way  of  judg- 
ing of  the  future  but  by  the  past.  And,  judging  by  the  past, 
I  wish  to  know  what  there  has  been  in  the  conduct  of  the 
British  ministry,  for  the  last  ten  years,  to  justify  those  hopes 
with  which  gentlemen  have  been  pleased  to  solace  them- 
selves and  the  House  ?  Is  it  that  insiduous  smile  with  which 
our  petition  has  been  lately  received  ?  Trust  it  not,  sir  ;  it 
will  prove  a  snare  to  your  feet !  Suffer  not  yourselves  to  be 
betrayed  with  a  kiss  !  Ask  yourselves  how  this  gracious 
reception  of  our  petition  comports  with  those  warlike  pre-: 
parations  which  cover  our  waters  and  darken  our  land.  Are 
fleets  and  armies  necessary  to  a  work  of  love  and  reconcili- 
ation? Have  we  shown  ourselves  so  unwilling  to  be  rec- 
onciled, that  force  must  be  called  in  to  win  back  our  love  ? 

"  Let  us  not  deceive  ourselves,  sir.  These  are  the  imple- 
ments of  war  and  subjugation  ; — the  last  arguments  to  which 
kings  resort.  I  ask  gentlemen,  sir,  what  means  this  martial 
array,  if  its  purpose  be  not  to  force  us  to  submission?  Can 
gentlemen  assign  any  other  possible  motive  for  it  ?  Has 
Great  Britain  any  enemy  in  this  quarter  of  the  world,  to 
call  for  all  this  accumulation  of  navies  and  armies?  No, 
sir,  she  has  none.  They  are  meant  for  us  ;  they  can  be  meant 
for  no  other.  They  are  sent  over  to  bind  and  rivet  upon  us 
those  chains  which  the  British  ministry  have  been  so  long 
forging.  And  what  have  we  to  oppose  to  them  ?— Shall  we  try 
argument  ?  Sir,  we  have  been  trying  that  for  the  last  ten 
years.  Have  we  anything  new  to  offer  upon  the  subject? 
Nothing.  We  have  held  the  subject  up  in  every  light  of 
which  it  is  capable  ;  but  it  has  been  all  in  vain. 


334  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


"  Shall  we  resort  to  entreaty  and  humble  supplication  ? 
What  terms  shall  we  find  which  have  not  already  been  ex- 
hausted ?  Let  us  not,  I  beseech  you,  sir,  deceive  ourselves 
longer.  Sir,  we  have  done  everything  that  could  be  done, 
to  avert  the  storm  which  is  now  coming  on.  We  have  peti- 
tioned, we  have  remonstrated,  we  have  supplicated,  we  have 
prostrated  ourselves  before  the  throne,  and  have  implored 
its  interposition  to  arrest  the  tyrannical  hands  of  the  minis- 
try and  parliament.  Our  petitions  have  been  slighted,  our 
remonstrances  have  produced  additional  violence  and  insult, 
our  supplications  have  been  disregarded,  and  we  have  been 
spurned,  with  contempt,  from  the  foot  of  the  throne. 

"  In  vain,  after  these  things,  may  we  indulge  the  fond 
hope  of  peace  and  reconciliation  ?  There  is  no  longer  any 
reason  for  hope.  If  we  wish  to  be  free,  if  we  mean  to  pre- 
serve inviolate  those  inestimable  privileges  for  which  we  have 
been  so  long  contending, — if  we  mean  not  basely  to  abandon 
the  noble  struggle  in  which  we  have  been  so  long  engaged, 
and  which  we  have  pledged  ourselves  never  to  abandon  until 
the  glorious  object  of  our  contest  shall  be  obtained, — we 
must  fight ;  I  repeat  it,  sir,  we  must  fight !  An  appeal  to 
arms,  and  to  the  God  of  Hosts,  is  all  that  is  left  us!  " 

Otis. — James  Otis  descended  in  the  fifth  generation  from 
John  Otis,  who  came  over  from  England  at  a  very  early 
period  and  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Hingham,  Massa- 
chusetts. He  took  the  freeman's  oath  on  the  3d  of  March, 
1635.  By  his  mother's  side  he  was  connected  with  the  first 
founders  of  Plymouth  Colony,  who  arrived  in  the  Mayflower 
in  1620. 

He  was  born  at  Great  Marshes,  in  what  is  now  called  West 
Barnstable,  February  5,  1725.  Says  one  of  his  biographers: 
"  During  the  first  two  years  of  his  college  life,  his  natural 
ardour  and  vivacity  made  his  society  much  courted  by  the 
elder  students,  and  engaged  him  more  in  amusement  than 
in  study  ;  but  he  changed  his  course  in  the  junior  year,  and 
began  thenceforward  to  give  indications  of  great  talent  and 
power  of  application."  Although  at  times  grave  and  sedate, 
sometimes  he  would  discover  the  wit  and  humour  which 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  A  M ERICA .  335 


formed  afterwards  striking  ingredients  in  his  character.  A 
small  party  of  young  people  having  assembled  one  day  at 
his  father's  house,  when  he  was  at  home  during  a  college 
vacation,  he  had  taken  a  slight  part  in  their  sports,  when, 
after  much  persuasion,  they  induced  him  to  play  a  country 
dance  for  them  with  his  violin,  on  which  instrument  he  then 
practised  a  little.  The  set  was  made  up,  and  after  they 
were  fairly  engaged,  he  suddenly  stopped,  and  holding  up 
his  fiddle  and  bow,  exclaimed :  '  So  Orpheus  fiddled,  and 
so  danced  the  brutes ! '  and  then  tossing  the  instrument 
aside,  rushed  into  the  garden,  followed  by  the  disap- 
pointed revellers,  who  were  obliged  to  convert  their  intended 
dance  into  a  frolicsome  chase  after  the  fugitive  musician. 

The  important  events  preceding  and  connected  with  the 
American  Revolution  attracted  the  attention  of  Mr.  Otis. 
In  1760,  George  the  Second  died,  and  his  grandson  reigned 
in  his  stead.  The  conquest  of  Canada  was  completed,  and 
it  was  rumoured  that  the  colonists  were  to  be  deprived  of 
their  charters  and  formed  into  royal  governments.  Edicts 
were  issued  by  the  sovereign  which  enabled  the  king's  col- 
lectors to  compel  all  sheriffs  and  constables  to  attend  and 
aid  them  in  breaking  open  houses,  stores,  cellars,  ships' 
trunks,  etc.,  to  search  for  goods  which  it  was  supposed  had 
not  paid  the  unrighteous  tax  imposed  by  parliament.  The 
good-will  of  the  colonists  was  wanted  no  longer  to  advance 
the  prosecution  of  the  war,  and  Writs  of  Assistance  were 
undertaken  through  the  influence  of  the  royal  governor  and 
others.  Application  was  first  made  for  those  writs  at  Salem, 
Massachusetts.  Stephen  Sewall,  who  was  then  Chief-Justice 
of  the  Superior  Court,  expressed  great  doubt  of  the  legality 
of  such  writs,  and  of  the  authority  of  the  court  to  grant 
them.  The  other  judges  were  of  the  same  opinion.  The 
matter,  however,  was  postponed  until  the  next  term  of  the 
court  at  Boston,  in  February,  1761.  Mr.  Otis  undertook  to 
argue  against  the  writs  at  the  request  of  the  colonists,  and 
met  in  conflict  his  law-teacher,  Mr.  Gridley,  then  Attorney- 
General.  Mr.  Otis  was  Advocate-General  of  the  Colony  of 
Massachusetts  when  the  order  relating  to  Writs  of  Assistance 


HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


came  from  England.  Deeming  them  illegal,  he  refused  to 
enforce  them.  This  was  the  case  when  Mr.  Otis  first  became 
famous  in  history.  "  The  fire  in  the  flint  shines  not  till  it 
be  struck."  James  Otis  distinguished  himself  as  the  bold, 
brilliant,  victorious  champion  of  Colonial  rights.  He  gave 
free  rein  to  his  oratorical  powers  and  soared  into  regions  of 
patriotic  principles,  new  both  to  himself  and  the  world. 

Says  John  Adams,  in  his  sketch  of  the  scene  :  "  Otis  was  a 
flame  of  fire.  With  a  promptitude  of  classical  allusions,  and 
a  depth  of  research,  a  rapid  summary  of  historical  events  and 
dates,  a  profusion  of  legal  authorities,  a  prophetic  glance  of 
his  eyes  into  futurity,  and  a  rapid  torrent  of  impetuous  elo- 
quence, he  hurried  away  all  before  him.  The  seeds  of  patriots 
and  heroes  were  then  and  there  sown.  Every  man  of  an 
immensely  crowded  audience  appeared  to  me  to  go  away, 
as  I  did,  ready  to  take  arms  against  Writs  of  Assistance. 
Then  and  there  was  the  first  scene  of  the  first  act  of  opposi- 
tion to  the  arbitrary  claims  of  Great  Britain.  Then  and 
there  the  child  Independence  was  born.  In  fifteen  years, 
that  is  in  17/6,  he  grew  up  to  manhood  and  declared  himself 
free."  The  principles  laid  down  by  Otis  with  such  profound 
learning  could  not  be  subverted.  The  decision  of  the  court 
was  as  follows :  "  The  court  has  considered  the  subject  of 
Writs  of  Assistance,  and  can  see  no  foundation  for  such  a 
writ ;  but  as  the  practice  in  England  is  not  known,  it  has 
been  thought  best  to  continue  the  question  to  the  next  term, 
that  in  the  meantime  opportunity  may  be  given  to  know  the 
result."  No  judgment  was  pronounced  at  the  next  term, 
and  nothing  was  said  about  Writs  of  Assistance.  Few  of 
the  rhetorical  productions  of  Mr.  Otis  are  now  extant.  None 
of  his  speeches  were  fully  recorded.  As  an  orator  his  me- 
morials are  rather  traditionary  than  actual.  The  admiration 
which  his  countrymen  had  for  him  was  boundless,  and  his 
memory  will  always  be  revered. 

His  eloquence  was  bold,  witty,  pungent,  and  practical.  He 
communed  with  other  minds,  but  more  with  his  own.  He 
was  learned,  and  yet  original,  courteous  in  debate,  and  al- 
ways treating  the  opinions  of  his  adversaries  with  the  respect 


ORATORY  IN  AMERICA.  337 


they  deserved  ;  but  he  was  bold  and  daring  in  his  own  inves- 
tigations. He  always  listened  to  appeals  which  were  con- 
ciliating, and  motives  that  were  just.  In  the  presence, 
however,  of  arrogance  and  oppression,  he  was  as  firm  as  a 
rock.  The  following  extract  from  his  Vindication  of  the 
Colony  of  Massachusetts  in  1762,  will  illustrate  both  the  bold- 
ness and  wit  of  Mr.  Otis : 

"  In  order  to  excuse,  if  not  altogether  justify,  the  offen- 
sive passage,  and  clear  it  from  ambiguity,  I  beg  leave  to 
premise  two  or  three  data  :  I.  God  made  all  men  naturally 
equal.  2.  The  ideas  of  earthly  superiority,  pre-eminence,  and 
grandeur,  are  educational,  at  least,  acquired,  not  innate.  3. 
Kings  were,  (and  plantation  governors  should  be),  made  for 
the  good  of  the  peopkj  and  not  the  people  for  them.  4.  No 
government  has  a  right  to  make  hobby-horses,  asses,  and 
slaves  of  the  subject ;  nature  having  made  sufficient  of  the 
two  former  for  all  the  lawful  purposes  of  man,  from  the 
harmless  peasant  in  the  field,  to  the  most  refined  politician 
in  the  cabinet,  but  none  of  the  last,  which  infallibly  proves 
that  they  are  unnecessary." 

Mr.  Otis  always  forgot  himself  in  the  subjects  he  dis- 
cussed. He  explored  all  the  resources  at  his  command,  and 
was  tireless  in  preparation.  He  appeared  to  be  completely 
absorbed  by  his  theme  while  speaking,  and  thought  as  little 
of  the  skill  he  should  display  as  an  orator,  as  one  fighting 
for  his  life  thinks  of  the  grace  he  shall  exhibit  in  the  flourish 
of  his  weapons.  He  was  enthusiastic,  suicere,  forceful, 
natural,  and  spoke  the  language  of  a  powerful  mind  under 
high  but  well  regulated  excitement. 

It  may  be  said  of  Otis  as  it  was  of  John  Marshall :  "  He 
was  one  of  those  rare  beings  that  seem  to  be  sent  among 
men  from  time  to  time,  to  keep  alive  our  faith  in  humanity." 
He  was  finely  formed,  and  had  an  intelligent  countenance; 
his  eye,  voice,  and  manner  were  very  impressive.  The  ele- 
vation of  his  mind  and  the  known  integrity  of  his  purposes, 
enabled  him  to  speak  with  decision  and  dignity,  and  com- 
manded the  respect  as  well  as  the  admiration  of  his  audi- 
ence. His  eloquence  showed  but  little  imagination,  yet  it 


338  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 

was  instinct  with  the  fire  of  passion.  His  oratory  was  ex- 
tremely serviceable  to  the  Colonists.  He  charmed  the  timid 
and  inspired  the  weak,  boldly  attacked  and  subdued  the 
haughty,  and  enthralled  the  prejudiced. 

John  Adams  said  of  him  :  "  I  have  been  young,  and  now 
am  old,  and  I  solemnly  say,  I  have  never  known  a  man 
whose  love  of  his  country  was  more  ardent  and  sincere  ; 
never  one  who  suffered  so  much  ;  never  one,  whose  services 
for  any  ten  years  of  his  life,  were  so  important  and  essential 
to  the  cause  of  his  country,  as  those  of  Mr.  Otis,  from  1760 
to  1770." 

A  few  weeks  previous  to  his  death  Otis  said  to  his  sister, 
"  I  hope  when  God  Almighty  in  his  righteous  providence, 
shall  take  me  out  of  time  into  eternity,  that  it  will  be  by  a 
flash  of  lightning."  His  prayer  was  heard  and  answered. 
On  the  28th  of  May,  1783,  during  a  heavy  thunder-storm, 
he,  with  a  greater  part  of  the  family  with  which  he  resided 
had  entered  the  house  to  wait  until  the  shower  should  have 
passed.  Otis,  with  his  cane  in  one  hand,  stood  in  the  front 
entry  near  a  door,  and  was  telling  a  story  to  the  assembled 
group  when  a  terrible  explosion  took  place,  which  seemed 
to  shake  the  solid  earth,  and  he  fell  without  a  struggle,  or 
an  utterance,  instantaneously  dead.  He  had  often  expressed 
a  desire  to  die  as  he  did. 

Ames.VFisher  Ames  was  born  at  Dedham,  in  Norfolk 
County,  Massachusetts,  on  the  9th  of  April,  1758.  He  was 
descended  from,  one  of  the  oldest  families  in  the  province. 

Ames  exhibited  an  ardent  fondness  for  classical  literature 
at  an  early  age.  He  commenced  the  study  of  Latin  when 
he  was  only  six  years  of  age.  At  Harvard  College  to  which 
he  was  admitted  in  the  year  1770,  and  from  which  he  gradu- 
ated in  1774,  shortly  after  the  completion  of  his  twelfth 
year,  he  was  noted  for  his  application  and  industry.  His 
vivacity  and  animation,  and  his  geniality  and  modesty  made 
him  a  general  favourite. 

He  joined  a  debating  society  while  at  college  and  it 
was  early  observed  that  he  coveted  the  glory  of  eloquence. 
In  his  declamation  before  this  society,  he  was  remarked  for 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  AMERICA.  339 

the  energy  and  propriety  with  which  he  delivered  such 
specimens  of  impassioned  oratory  as  his  genius  led  him  to 
select.  His  compositions  at  this  time  bore  the  characteristic 
stamps  which  has  always  marked  his  speaking  and  writing. 
They  were  sententious  and  full  of  ornament. 

After  his  graduation  Mr.  Ames  devoted  himself  to  teach- 
ing, giving  his  leisure  to  the  study  of  the  classics,  ancient 
and  modern  history,  and  English  literature,  especially 
poetry.  Milton  and  Shakespeare  were  his  favourite  authors. 
He  was  attentive,  also,  to  the  cultivation  of  his  talents  in 
composition  and  oratory.  He  laid  his  favourite  authors 
under  heavy  contributions  for  the  purpose  of  enriching  and 
ornamenting  his  mind.  Nearly  all  of  the  splendid  pas- 
sages which  they  contain,  he  committed  to  memory,  and 
would  sometimes  recite  them  for  the  entertainment  of  his 
friends. 

This  course  of  reading  enabled  him  to  furnish  that  fund 
of  materials  for  speaking  and  writing  which  he  possessed  in 
singular  abundance,  his  remarkable  fertility  of  allusion,  and 
his  ability  to  evolve  a  train  of  imagery  adapted  to  every 
subject  of  which  he  treated. 

Mr.  Ames  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1781. 

Mr.  Ames,  soon  after  his  admission  to  the  bar,  wrote 
several  articles  on  political  topics  which  attracted  the  atten- 
tion of  the  leading  men  in  his  state. 

He  was  elected  in  1789  a  member  of  the  First  Congress 
under  the  Constitution,  'and  remained  a  member  of  that 
body  during  the  eight  years  of  Washington's  administration. 

He  delivered  his  celebrated  speech  on  the  appropriation 
for  Jay's  Treaty  in  1796 — a  production  of  the  deepest  pathos 
and  richest  eloquence. 

Dr.  Charles  Caldwell  thus  speaks  of  Ames's  oratory  :  "  He 
was  decidedly  one  of  the  most  splendid  rhetoricians  of  the 
age.  Two  of  his  speeches,  in  a  special  manner — that  on 
Jay's  Treaty,  and  that  usually  called  the  '  Tomahawk 
Speech '  (because  it  included  some  resplendent  passages  on 
Indian  massacres) — were  the  most  brilliant  and  fascinating 
specimens  of  eloquence  I  have  ever  heard  ;  yet  have  I  list- 


340  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


ened  to  some  of  the  most  celebrated  in  the  British  Parlia- 
ment— among  others  to  Wilberforce,  and  Mackintosh, 
Plunket,  Brougham,  and  Canning  ;  and  Dr.  Priestly  who 
was  familiar  with  the  oratory  of  Pitt  the  father,  and  Pitt  the 
son,  and  also  with  that  of  Burke  and  Fox,  made  to  myself  the 
acknowledgment  that,  in  his  own  words,  *  the  speech  of  Ames, 
on  the  British  treaty,  was  the  most  bewitching  piece  of 
parliamentary  oratory  he  had  ever  listened  to.'  " 

In  person  Mr.  Ames  was  above  middle  stature  and  well 
formed.  His  countenance  was  very  handsome,  and  his  eye 
blue  in  colour,  and  expressive.  His  features  were  not  strongly 
marked.  His  forehead  was  neither  high  nor  broad.  His 
mouth  was  beautifully  shaped,  and  was  one  of  his  finest 
features ;  his  hair  was  black,  and  he  wore  it  short,  and  in  the 
latter  years  of  his  life  unpowdered.  He  was  exceedingly 
erect  in  walking,  and  when  speaking  he  raised  his  head 
slightly.  It  is  said  that  his  expression  was  usually  mild  and 
complacent  when  in  debate,  and  if  he  meant  to  be  severe,  it 
was  seen  in  good-natured  sarcasm,  rather  than  in  acrimonious 
words.  // 

Mr.  Ames  died  in  1808. 

On  the  sanctity  of  treaties,  Mr.  Ames  said : 

"  We  are  either  to  execute  this  treaty  or  break  our  faith. 
To  expatiate  on  the  value  of  public  faith  may  pass  with 
some  men  for  declamation  ;  to  such  men  I  have  nothing  to 
say.  To  others,  I  will  urge,  can  any  circumstance  mark 
upon  a  people  more  turpitude  and  debasement  ?  Can  any- 
thing tend  more  to  make  men  think  themselves  mean, — or 
to  degrade  to  a  lower  point  their  estimation  of  virtue,  and 
their  standard  of  action  ?  It  would  not  merely  demoralise 
mankind  ;  it  tends  to  break  all  the  ligaments  of  society;  to 
dissolve  that  mysterious  charm  which  attracts  individuals  to 
the  nation  ;  and  to  inspire,  in  its  stead,  a  repulsive  sense  of 
shame  and  disgust. 

"  What  is  patriotism  ?  Is  it  a  narrow  affection  for  the 
spot  where  a  man  was  born  ?  Are  the  very  clods  where  we 
tread  entitled  to  this  ardent  preference,  because  they  are 
greener?  No,  sir  ;  this  is  not  the  character  of  the  virtue. 


ORATORY  IN  AMERICA.  34! 


It  soars  higher  for  its  object.  It  is  an  extended  self-love, 
mingling  with  all  the  enjoyments  of  life,  and  twisting  itself 
with  the  minutest  filaments  of  the  heart.  It  is  thus  we  obey 
the  laws  of  society,  because  they  are  the  laws  of  virtue.  In 
their  authority  we  see,  not  the  array  of  force  and  terror,  but 
the  venerable  image  of  our  country's  honour.  Every  good 
citizen  makes  that  honour  his  own,  and  cherishes  it,  not 
only  as  precious,  but  as  sacred.  He  is  willing  to  risk  his  life 
in  its  defense,  and  is  conscious  that  he  gains  protection 
while  he  gives  it ;  for  what  rights  of  a  citizen  will  be  deemed 
inviolable,  when  a  State  renounces  the  principles  that  con- 
stitute their  security  ?  Or,  if  his  life  should  not  be  invaded, 
what  would  its  enjoyments  be,  in  a  country  odious  in  the 
eye  of  strangers,  and  dishonoured  in  his  own  ?  Could  he 
look  with  affection  and  veneration  to  such  a  country  as  his 
parent  ?  The  sense  of  having  one  would  die  within  him  :  he 
would  blush  for  his  patriotism,  if  he  retained  any, — and 
justly,  for  it  would  be  a  vice.  He  would  be  a  banished  man 
in  his  native  land.  I  see  no  exception  to  the  respect  that  is 
paid  among  nations  to  the  law  of  good  faith.  It  is  the 
philosophy  of  politics,  the  religion  of  governments.  It  is 
observed  by  barbarians.  A  whiff  of  tobacco-smoke,  or  a 
string  of  beads,  gives  not  merely  binding  force,  but  sanctity, 
to  treaties.  Even  in  Algiers,  a  truce  may  be  bought  for 
money  ;  but,  when  ratified,  even  Algiers  is  too  wise,  or  too 
just,  to  disown  and  annul  its  obligation." 

On  the  British  treaty  in  1796,  Mr.  Ames  said  : 
"  Are  the  posts  of  our  frontier  to  remain  forever  in  the 
possession  of  Great  Britain  ?  Let  those  who  reject  them, 
when  the  treaty  offers  them  to  our  hands,  say,  if  they 
choose,  they  are  of  no  importance.  Will  the  tendency  to 
Indian  hostilities  be  contested  by  any  one?  Experience 
gives  the  answer.  Am  I  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  proving 
this  point?  Certainly  the  very  men  who  charged  the  Indian 
war  on  the  detention  of  the  posts  will  call  for  no  other  proof 
than  the  recital  of  their  own  speeches.  *  Until  the  posts  are 
restored,'  they  exclaimed,  '  the  treasury  and  the  frontiers 
must  bleed.'  Can  gentlemen  now  say  that  an  Indian  peace, 


342  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


without  the  posts,  will  prove  firm  ?  No,  sir,  it  will  not  be 
peace,  but  a  sword  ;  it  will  be  no  better  than  a  lure  to  draw 
victims  within  the  reach  of  the  tomahawk. 

"  On  this  theme  my  emotions  are  unutterable.  If  I  could 
find  words  for  them,  if  my  powers  bore  any  proportion  to 
my  zeal,  I  would  swell  my  voice  to  such  a  note  of  remon- 
strance, it  should  reach  every  log-house  beyond  the  moun- 
tains. I  would  say  to  the  inhabitants,  Wake  from  your 
false  security  !  Your  cruel  dangers,  your  more  cruel  appre- 
hensions, are  soon  to  be  removed.  The  wounds,  yet  un- 
healed,  are  to  be  torn  open  again.  In  the  daytime,  your 
path  through  the  woods  will  be  ambushed.  The  darkness 
of  midnight  will  glitter  with  the  blaze  of  your  dwellings. 
You  are  a  father, — the  blood  of  your  sons  shall  fatten  your 
corn-fields  !  You  are  a  mother, — the  war-whoop  shall  wake 
the  sleep  of  the  cradle ! 

"  Who  will  say  that  I  exaggerate  the  tendencies  of  our 
measures  ?  Will  any  one  answer,  by  a  sneer,  that  all  this  is 
idle  preaching?  Will  any  one  deny  that  we  are  bound,  and, 
I  would  hope,  to  good  purpose,  by  the  most  solemn  sanc- 
tions of  duty,  for  the  vote  we  give  ?  Are  despots  alone  to 
be  reproached  for  unfeeling  indifference  to  the  tears  and 
blood  of  their  subjects?  Are  republicans  irresponsible? 
Can  you  put  the  dearest  interest  of  society  at  risk,  without 
guilt,  and  without  remorse?  It  is  vain  to  offer,  as  an  ex- 
cuse, that  public  men  are  not  to  be  reproached  for  the  evils 
that  may  happen  to  ensue  from  their  measures.  This  is 
very  true,  where  they  are  unforeseen  or  inevitable.  Those 
I  have  depicted  are  not  unforeseen ;  they  are  so  far  from 
inevitable,  we  are  going  to  bring  them  into  being  by  our 
vote.  We  choose  the  consequences,  and  become  as  justly 
answerable  for  them  as  for  the  measure  that  we  know  will 
produce  them. 

"  By  rejecting  the  posts,  we  light  the  savage  fires,  we  bind 
the  victims.  This  day  we  undertake  to  render  account 
to  the  widows  and  orphans  whom  our  decision  will  make  ;  to 
the  wretches  that  will  be  roasted  at  the  stake ;  to  our 
country,  and,  I  do  not  deem  it  too  serious  to  say,  to  con- 


ORA  TOR  Y  IN  AMERICA.  343 


science  and  to  God,  we  are  answerable  ;  and,  if  duty  be  any- 
thing more  than  a  word  of  imposture,  if  conscience  be  not 
a  bugbear,  we  are  preparing  to  make  ourselves  as  wretched 
as  our  country.  There  is  no  mistake  in  this  case.  There 
can  be  none.  Experience  has  already  been  the  prophet  of 
events,  and  the  cries  of  our  future  victims  have  already 
reached  us.  The  Western  inhabitants  are  not  a  silent  and 
uncomplaining  sacrifice.  The  voice  of  humanity  issues  from 
the  shade  of  the  wilderness.  It  exclaims  that,  while  one 
hand  is  held  up  to  reject  this  treaty,  the  other  grasps  a 
tomahawk.  It  summons  our  imagination  to  the  scenes  that 
will  open.  It  is  no  great  effort  of  the  imagination  to  con- 
ceive that  events  so  near  are  already  begun.  I  can  fancy 
that  I  listen  to  the  yells  of  savage  vengeance  and  the  shrieks 
of  torture  !  Already  they  seem  to  sigh  in  the  Western 
wind !  Already  they  mingle  with  every  echo  from  the 
mountains  ! " 

Randolph.— John  Randolph,  of  Roanoke,  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  men  that  ever  lived  in  any  age,  was  born 
on  the  2d  day  of  June,  1773,  near  Petersburg,  Virginia. 
His  extraordinary  eloquence  early  fastened  the  attention  of 
his  countrymen  upon  him. 

Mr.  Randolph  made  his  first  appearance,  in  public  life,  in 
1799,  as  a  candidate  for  Congress.  He  was  indebted,  for  his 
success,  to  his  ability,  as  he  was  without  family  influence  in 
his  district,  and  a  mere  boy  in  appearance.  Patrick  Henry, 
the  popular  statesman  and  orator,  was  his  opponent.  An 
anecdote  is  related,  which  is  characteristic  of  both  com- 
batants. Mr.  Randolph  was  addressing  the  populace  in 
answer  to  Mr.  Henry,  when  a  friend  said  to  the  latter: 
"  Come,  Henry,  let  us  go  ;  it  is  not  worth  while  to  listen  to 
that  boy."  Mr.  Henry  generously  said  in  reply  :  "  Stay,  my 
friend,  there  is  an  old  man's  head  on  that  boy's  shoulders." 

Although  John  Randolph  was  devoted  to  America,  he 
also  loved  England.  Speaking  of  Randolph's  opposition  to 
war  between  England  and  this  country  Baldwin  says  : 

"  But,  more  especially,  Randolph  did  not  desire  war  with 
England.  He  had  no  prejudices  against  England.  He  saw 


344  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


and  condemned  her  faults.  He  did  not  justify  her  conduct 
toward  us.  But  he  remembered  that  we  were  of  the  blood 
and  bone  of  her  children.  He  remembered  that  we  spoke 
her  language,  and  that  we  were  connected  with  her  by  the 
strongest  commercial  ties  and  interests  ;  that,  though  we 
had  fought  her  through  a  long  and  bloody  war,  yet  we  had 
fought  her  by  the  light  of  her  own  principles  ;  that  her  own 
great  men  had  cheered  us  on  in  the  fight ;  and  that  the 
body  of  the  English  nation  were  with  us  against  a  corrupt 
and  venal  ministry,  when  we  took  up  arms  against  their  and 
our  tyrants.  He  remembered  that  from  England  we  had 
inherited  all  the  principles  of  liberty  which  lie  at  the  basis 
of  our  government — freedom  of  speech  and  of  the  press ; 
the  Habeas  Corpus;  trial  by  jury;  representation  with 
taxation  ;  and  the  great  body  of  our  laws.  He  reverenced 
her  for  what  she  had  done  in  the  cause  of  human  progress, 
and  for  the  Protestant  religion  ;  for  her  achievements  in  arts 
and  arms  ;  for  her  lettered  glory  ;  for  the  light  shed  on  the 
human  mind  by  her  master  writers  ;  for  the  blessings  show- 
ered by  her  great  philanthropists  upon  the  world. 

"  He  saw  her  in  a  new  phase  of  character.  Whatever 
was  left  of  freedom  in  the  old  world,  had  taken  shelter  in 
that  island,  as  man,  during  the  deluge,  in  the  ark. 

"  She  opposed  the  only  barrier  now  left  to  the  sway  of 
unlimited  empire,  by  a  despot,  whom  she  detested  as  one  of 
the  most  merciless  and  remorseless  tyrants  that  ever  scourged 
this  planet.  Deserted  of  all  other  men  and  nations,  she 
was  not  dismayed.  She  did  not  even  seek — such  was  the 
spirit  of  her  prodigious  pride— to  avoid  the  issue.  She  de- 
fied it.  She  dared  it — was  eager — fevered — panting  for  it. 
She  stood  against  the  arch-conqueror's  power,  as  her  own 
sea-girt  isle  slants  in  the  ocean — calm  amidst  the  storm  and 
the  waves  that  blow  and  break  harmlessly  on  the  shore. 
She  was  largely  indebted,  but  she  poured  out  money  like 
water.  Her  people  were  already  heavily  taxed,  but  she 
quadrupled  the  taxes.  She  taxed  everything  that  supports 
or  embellishes  life,  all  the  elements  of  nature,  everything  of 
human  necessity  or  luxury,  from  the  cradle  to  the  coffin. 


ORATORY  IN  AMERICA.  345 


The  shock  was  about  to  come.  The  long  guns  of  the  cinque 
ports  were  already  loaded,  and  the  matches  blazing,  to 
open  upon  the  expectant  enemy,  as  he  descended  upon  her 
coasts.  We  came  as  a  new  enemy  into  the  field.  It  was 
natural  to  expect  her,  in  the  face  of  the  old  foe,  thought  by 
so  many  to  be  himself  an  over-match  for  her,  to  hasten  to 
make  terms  with  us,  rather  than  have  another  enemy  upon 
her.  No  !  She  refused,  in  the  agony  and  stress  of  danger, 
to  do  what  she  refused  in  other  times.  She  turned  to  us 
the  same  look  of  resolute  and  imperturbable  defiance — with 
some  touch  of  friendly  reluctance  in  it,  it  may  be — which 
she  turned  to  her  ancient  foe.  As  she  stood  in  her  armour, 
glittering  like  a  war-god,  beneath  the  lion  banner,  under 
which  we  had  fought  with  her  at  the  Long  Meadows,  at 
Fort  Du  Quesne,  and  on  the  Heights  of  Abraham,  Randolph 
could  not — for  his  soul,  he  could  not  find  it  in  his  heart  to 
strike  her  then." 

His  sentiments  cost  him  his  seat  in  Congress,  but,  says 
Mr.  Baldwin  :  "  Without  a  murmur  he  bowed  his  head  to 
the  stroke  and  went  into  retirement." 

Randolph  was  one  of  the  most  brilliant  orators  that 
America  has  produced.  He  was  sometimes  bitter  and  sar- 
castic to  his  foes,  but  he  was  an  open  foe.  His  severest  at- 
tacks were  made  in  public — in  the  face  of  day  and  in  the 
presence  of  his  enemies. 

In  polite  learning  he  was  accomplished  beyond  the  most 
of  the  literati  of  his  country.  He  was,  beyond  question,  the 
wittiest  man  of  his  time. 

He  made  the  resources  of  others  subservjent  to  his  pur- 
poses, but  he  gave  a  new  value  to  the  sentence  quoted,  and 
there  was  as  much  genius  in  the  selection  and  application, 
as  in  the  conception  and  expression  of  the  idea.  He  usually 
spoke  without  preparation,  and  it  is  said  his  speeches  de- 
pended much  upon  the  state  of  his  nervous  system.  He 
was,  therefore,  an  unequal  speaker,  sometimes  speaking 
with  the  greatest  felicity,  and  sometimes  with  diminished 
power. 

He  was  an  honest  and  a  conscientious  man,  and  his  mind 


346  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


was  pure  and  elevated.  His  principles, — he  never  deserted. 
He  never  pandered  to  the  passions  of  the  mob. 

Mr.  Randolph  was  a  descendant,  in  the  seventh  generation, 
from  the  celebrated  Pocahontas,  the  daughter  of  Powhatan, 
the  great  Indian  chief. 

Mr.  Randolph  died  in  1833,  in  Philadelphia. 

As  a  specimen  of  his  style,  the  following  extract  from  his 
speech  on  British  influence,  delivered  in  1811,  is  given  : 

"  Imputations  of  British  influence  have  been  uttered 
against  the  opponents  of  this  war.  Against  whom  are 
these  charges  brought  ?  Against  men  who,  in  the  war  of 
the  Revolution,  were  in  the  Councils  of  the  Nation,  or 
fighting  the  battles  of  your  country !  And  by  whom  are 
these  charges  made  ?  By  runaways,  chiefly  from  the  British 
dominions,  since  the  breaking  out  of  the  French  troubles. 
The  great  autocrat  of  all  the  Russias  receives  the  homage 
of  our  high  consideration.  The  Dey  of  Algiers  and  his 
divan  of  pirates  are  very  civil,  good  sort  of  people,  with 
whom  we  find  no  difficulty  in  maintaining  the  relations  of 
peace  and  amity.  '  Turks  and  Infidels,' — Melimelli  or  the 
Little  Turtle, — barbarians  and  savages  of  every  clime  and 
colour,  are  welcome  to  our  arms.  With  chiefs  of  banditti, 
negro,  or  mulatto,  we  can  treat  and  can  trade.  Name,  how- 
ever, but  England,  and  all  our  antipathies  are  up  in  arms 
against  her.  Against  whom  ?  Against  those  whose  blood 
runs  in  our  veins  ;  in  common  with  whom  we  claim  Shake- 
speare, and  Newton,  and  Chatham,  for  our  countrymen  ; 
whose  form  of  government  is  the  freest  on  earth,  our  own, 
only,  excepted  ;  from  whom  every  valuable  principle  of  our 
own  institutions  has  been  borrowed, — representation,  jury 
trial,  voting  system,  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  our  whole  civil 
and  criminal  jurisprudence  ; — against  our  fellow-Protestants, 
identified  in  blood,  in  language,  in  religion,  with  ourselves. 

"  In  what  school  did  the  worthies  of  our  land — the  Wash- 
ingtons,  Henrys,  Hancocks,  Franklins,  Rutledges,  of  America 
— learn  those  principles  of  civil  liberty  which  were  so  nobly 
asserted  by  their  wisdom  and  valour  ?  American  resistance 
to  British  usurpation  has  not  been  more  warmly  cherished 


ORATORY  IN  AMERICA.  347 


by  these  great  men  and  their  compatriots, — not  mofe  by 
Washington,  Hancock,  and  Henry, — than  by  Chatham  and 
his  illustrious  associates  in  the  British  Parliament.  It  ought 
to  be  remembered,  too,  that  the  heart  of  the  English  people 
was  with  us.  It  was  a  selfish  and  corrupt  ministry,  and  their 
servile  tools,  to  whom  we  were  not  more  opposed  than  they 
were.  I  trust  that  none  such  may  ever  exist  among  us  ;  for 
tools  will  never  be  wanting  to  subserve  the  purposes,  how- 
ever ruinous  or  wicked,  of  kings  and  ministers  of  state.  I 
acknowledge  the  influence  of  a  Shakespeare  and  a  Milton 
upon  my  imagination  ;  of  a  Locke,  upon  my  understanding; 
of  a  Sidney,  upon  my  political  principles  ;  of  a  Chatham, 
upon  qualities  which  would  to  God  I  possessed  in  common 
with  that  illustrious  man  !  of  a  Tillotson,  a  Sherlock,  and  a 
Porteus,  upon  my  religion.  This  is  a  British  influence  which 
I  can  never  shake  off." 

Pinkney. — William  Pinkney  was  born  at  Annapolis,  Mary- 
land, on  the  1 7th  of  March,  1764.  He  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  in  1786,  and  the  same  year  removed  to  Hartford  County 
and  commenced  practice.  Wheaton  says:  "  His  very  first 
efforts  seem  to  have  given  him  a  commanding  attitude  in 
the  eye  of  the  public.  His  attainments  in  the  law  of  real 
property  and  the  science  of  special  pleading,  then  the  two 
great  foundations  of  legal  distinction,  were  accurate  and 
profound  ;  and  he  had  disciplined  his  mind  by  the  cultiva- 
tion of  that  species  of  logic,  which,  if  it  does  not  lead  to  the 
brilliant  results  of  inductive  philosophy,  contributes  essen- 
tially to  invigorate  the  reasoning  faculty,  and  to  enable  it 
to  detect  those  fallacies  which  are  apt  to  impose  upon  the 
understanding  in  the  warmth  and  hurry  of  forensic  discus- 
sion. His  style  in  speaking  was  marked  by  an  easy  flow  of 
natural  eloquence  and  a  happy  choice  of  language.  His 
voice  was  very  melodious,  and  seemed  a  winning  accompani- 
ment to  his  pure  and  effective  diction.  His  elocution  was 
calm  and  placid — the  very  contrast  of  that  strenuous,  ve- 
hement, and  emphatic  manner  which  he  subsequently 
adopted." 

Mr.  Pinkney  for  many  years  stood  at  the  head  of  the  bar 


348  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


of  Maryland,  and  for  the  last  ten  years  of  his  life  he  did  not 
have  a  superior  as  a  lawyer,  perhaps,  in  the  United  States. 

In  person  he  was  strong  and  muscular,  square-shouldered 
and  firm-set,  exhibiting  great  vigour  of  action,  with  much 
grace  and  ease  of  movement.  His  countenance  was  intel- 
ligent and  open,  and  was  capable  of  the  most  powerful  and 
various  expression.  His  forehead  was  rather  low,  and  his 
head  oval  in  shape.  Few  men  have  equalled  Mr.  Pinkney 
in  the  power  to  invent,  select,  illustrate,  and  combine  topics 
for  the  purposes  of  argument. 

But  he  did  not  rely  on  the  resources  of  his  genius.  He 
improved  it  by  constant  and  laborious  study.  From  early 
life  he  was  a  diligent  student,  not  only  of  law,  but  of  general 
literature.  His  knowledge  of  the  law  was  extensive,  deep, 
and  accurate.  It  is  not  the  author's  design  to  present  even 
an  outline  of  Mr.  Pinkney's  character  as  a  statesman  or  a 
scholar,  but  chiefly  as  a  forensic  orator.  The  sketch  of  Mr. 
Pinkney  as  an  orator,  drawn  by  the  distinguished  Judge 
Story,  is  worthy  of  insertion  here  : 

"  The  celebrity  of  Mr.  Pinkney,  as  a  public  speaker,  re- 
quires some  notice  in  this  place  of  the  nature  and  character 
of  his  oratory.  It  was,  in  manner,  original,  impressive,  and 
vehement.  He  had  some  natural  and  some  acquired  defects, 
which  made  him,  in  some  degree,  fall  short  of  that  exquisite 
conception  of  the  imagination,  a  perfect  orator.  His  voice 
was  thick  and  gutteral.  It  rose  and  fell  with  little  melody 
and  softening  of  tones,  and  was  occasionally  abrupt  and 
harsh  in  its  intonations,  and  wanting  in  liquidness  and 
modulation.  At  times  his  utterance  was  hurried  on  to  an 
excess  of  vehemence ;  and  then,  as  it  were,  per  saltum,  he 
would  suffer  it  to  fall,  at  the  close  of  the  sentence,  to  a  low 
and  indistinct  whisper,  which  confused,  at  once,  the  sense  and 
the  sound.  This  inequality  of  elocution  did  not  seem  so 
much  a  natural  defect  as  a  matter  of  choice  or  artificial 
cultivation.  But  the  effect,  from  whatever  cause  it  arose, 
was  unpleasing ;  and  sometimes  gave  to  his  speeches  the  air 
of  too  much  study,  measured  dignity,  or  dramatic  energy. 
These,  however,  were  venial  faults,  open  to  observation,  in- 


OKA  TOR  Y  IN  AMERICA.  349 


deed,  but  soon  forgotten  by  those,  who  listened  to  his  in- 
structive and  persuasive  reasoning ;  for  no  man  could  hear 
him,  for  any  length  of  time,  without  being  led  captive  by  his 
eloquence.  His  imagination  was  rich  and  inventive  ;  his 
taste,  in  general,  pure  and  critical ;  and  his  memory  uncom- 
monly exact,  full,  and  retentive.  He  attained  to  a  complete 
mastery  of  the  whole  compass  of  the  English  language  ;  and, 
in  the  variety  of  use,  as  well  as  the  choice  of  diction,  for  all 
the  purposes  of  his  public  labours,  he  possessed  a  marvellous 
felicity.  It  gave  to  his  style  an  air  of  originality,  force, 
copiousness,  and  expressiveness,  which  struck  the  most  care- 
less observer.  His  style  was  not,  indeed,  like  that  of  Junius  ; 
but  it  stood  out,  among  all  others,  with  that  distinct  and 
striking  peculiarity  which  has  given  such  fame  to  that  truly 
great,  unknown  author.  His  powers  of  amplification  and 
illustration,  whenever  these  were  appropriate  to  his  purpose, 
seemed  almost  inexhaustible  ;  though  he  possessed,  at  the 
same  time,  the  power  of  condensation,  both  of  thought  and 
language,  to  a  most  uncommon  degree.  He  never  used  his 
powers  of  amplification  and  illustration  for  mere  ornament ; 
but  as  auxiliaries  to  the  main  purposes  of  his  argument, 
artfully  interweaving  them  with  the  solid  materials  of  the 
fabric.  Occasionally,  indeed,  he  would  indulge  himself  in 
digressions  of  such  singular  beauty  and  brilliancy,  such  a 
magnificence  of  phrase,  and  an  appropriateness  of  allusion, 
that  they  won  applause,  even  from  those  whose  functions 
demand  a  severe  and  scrutinising  indifference  to  everything, 
but  argument.  In  general,  his  speeches  did  not  abound  with 
rhetorical  flourishes,  or  sparkle  with^  wit,  or  scorch  with  sar- 
casm  ;  though  he  possessed  the  faculty  of  using  each  of 
them"  with  great  skill  and  promptitude.  But  when  the 
occasion  seemed  to  him,  from  its  extraordinary  interest,  or 
the  state  of  public  excitement,  to  require  it,  his  speeches 
abounded  with  poetical  imagery,  and  ambitious  ornaments, 
and  were~^elaborated  withall  the  studied  amplitude  of  phrase 
of  Burke  and  Bolingbroke. 

"  But   the  principal   and    distinguishing   faculty    of    Mr. 
Pinkney's  mind,  (in  which  few,  if  any,  have  ever  excelled 


350  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


him,)  and  which  gave  such  solid  weight  to  his  arguments, 
and  carried  home  conviction  to  the  doubting  and  the  reluc- 
tant, was  the  closeness,  acuteness,  clearness,  and  vigour  of  his 
power  of  ratiocination.  His  luminous  analysis  of  the 
merits  of  his  case,  his  severe  and  searching  logic,  his  pro- 
gressive expansion  of  the  line  of  argument,  sustaining  itself 
at  every  step,  by  a  series  of  almost  impregnable  positions, 
and  his  instantaneous  perception  of  the  slightest  infirmity  in 
the  arguments  or  concessions  of  his  adversary,  gave  him,  in 
most  debates,  a  captivating,  if  not  a  dangerous  superiority, 
and  made  him,  at  the  bar,  a  formidable  antagonist,  always 
to  be  watched  with  jealousy,  and  always  to  be  approached 
with  caution. 

"  Mr.  Pinkney  entertained  the  loftiest  notions  of  the 
dignity  and  utility  of  the  profession  ;  and  he  endeavoured,  on 
all  occasions,  to  diffuse  among  the  members  of  the  bar  the 
deepest  sense  of  its  importance,  and  responsibility  to  the 
public.  He  was  desirous  of  fame,  of  that  fame,  which  alone 
is  enduring,  the  fame  which  reposes  on  sound  learning, 
exalted  genius,  and  diligent,  nay,  incessant  study.  What- 
ever might  be  the  success  of  his  oratory  in  the  estimate  of 
other  persons,  it  never  seemed  to  reach  his  own  standard  of 
excellence.  He  was,  therefore,  engaged  in  a  constant 
struggle,  not  merely  to  excel  others,  but  to  excel  himself; 
and  thus,  his  orations,  (for  such  many  of  his  speeches  were,) 
and  his  juridical  arguments,  were  perpetually  enriched  by 
the  last  accumulations  of  a  mind,  whose  ambition  never 
tired,  and  whose  industry  never  slackened,  in  its  professional 
meditations  and  readings.  In  these  respects,  his  example 
may  fitly  be  propounded  to  all  who  seek  solid  reputation  at 
the  bar.  He  knew  well  that  genius  without  labour  could 
accomplish  little ;  and  that  he  who  would  enlighten  others, 
or  be  foremost  in  the  race  of  life,  must  quicken  his  own 
thoughts,  by  giving  his  days  and  nights,  not  to  the  indul- 
gences of  pleasure,  or  the  soft  solicitudes  of  literary  ease,  but 
to  severe  discipline,  and  the  study  of  the  great  instructors  of 
mankind  in  learning  and  science.  His  loss,  in  this  edifying 
and  cheering  career,  will  long  be  felt.  It  has  cast  a  gloom 


ORATORY  IN  AMERICA.  351 


over  the  profession,  which  can  be  dissipated  only  by  the 
rise  of  some  other  master  spirit,  to  guide,  to  cheer,  and  to 
instruct  us." 

Wirt.— On  the  8th  of  November,  1772,  William  Wirt 
was  born  at  Bladensburg,  Md.  He  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  in  1792.  He  made  considerable  reputation  in  the 
trial  of  Aaron  Burr  in  1807,  against  whom  he  appeared  in 
aid  of  the  prosecution.  He  wrote  the  Life  of  Patrick 
Henry,  in  1817.  In  the  same  year  he  was  appointed 
Attorney-General  of  the  United  States  by  President 
Monroe.  He  died  at  Washington  on  the  i8th  day  of 
February,  1834. 

Mr.  Wirt  was  not  only  a  student  of  the  law,  but  he  was 
an  author  and  a  diligent  student  of  oratory.  In  a  letter  to 
a  young  man  engaged  in  the  study  of  the  law,  Mr.  Wirt 
shows  how  thorough  he  was  in  his  methods  of  study.  The 
extract  is  well,  worthy  of  insertion  here  : 

"  You  may  ask  for  instructions  adapted  to  improvement 
in  eloquence.  This  is  a  subject  for  a  treatise,  not  for  a 
letter.  Cicero,  however,  has  summed  up  the  whole  art  in  a 
few  words  ;  it  is  '  apte — distincte — ornate — dicere ' — to  speak 
to  the  purpose — to  speak  clearly  and  distinctly — to  speak 
gracefully  ; — to  be  able  to  speak  to  the  purpose,  you  must  un- 
derstand your  subject  and  all  that  belongs  to  it : — and  then 
your  thoughts  and  methods  must  be  clear  in  themselves,  and 
clearly  and  distinctly  enunciated ; — and  lastly,  your  voice, 
style  of  delivery  and  gesture  must  \)e  graceful,  and  delightfully 
impressive.  In  relation  to  this  subject  I  would  strenuously 
advise  you  two  things :  Compose  much  and  often  and  care- 
fully with  reference  to  this  same  rule,  '  apte,  distincte, 
ornate,'  and  let  your  conversation  have  reference  to  the 
same  objects.  I  do  not  mean  that  you  should  be  elaborate 
and  formal  in  your  ordinary  conversation.  Let  it  be  per- 
fectly simple  and  natural,  but  always  in  good  time,  (to  speak 
as  the  musicians,)  and  well  enunciated. 

"  With  regard  to  the  style  of  eloquence  that  you  shall  adopt, 
that  must  depend  very  much  on  your  own  taste  and  genius. 
You  are  not  disposed,  I  presume,  to  be  a  humble  imitator 


352  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


of  any  man.  If  you  are  you  may  bid  farewell  to  the  hope 
of  eminence  in  this  walk.  None  are  mere  imitators  to 
whom  Nature  has  given  original  powers.  If  you  are  en- 
dowed with  such  a  portion  of  the  spirit  of  oratory  as  can 
advance  you  to  a  high  rank  in  this  walk,  you  manner  will  be 
your  own.  I  can  only  tell  you  that  the  florid  and  Asiatic 
style  is  not  the  taste  of  the  age.  The  strong,  and  the  rugged 
and  abrupt  are  far  more  successful.  Bold  propositions, 
boldly  and  briefly  expressed — pithy  sentences — nervous 
common  sense — strong  phrases — the  feliciter  audax,  both  in 
language  and  conception — well-compacted  periods — sudden 
and  strong  masses  of  light — an  apt  adage — a  keen  sarcasm— 
a  merciless  personality — a  mortal  thrust — these  are  the 
beauties  and  deformities  that  now  make  a  speaker  the  most 
interesting.  A  gentleman  and  a  Christian  will  conform  to 
the  reigning  taste  so  far  only  as  his  principles  and  habits  of 
decorum  will  permit.  We  require  that  a  man  should  speak 
to  the  purpose,  and  come  to  the  point — that  he  should  instruct 
and  convince.  To  do  this,  his  mind  must  move  with  great 
strength  and  power ;  reason  should  be  manifestly  his  master 
faculty — argument  should  predominate  throughout  ;  but 
these  great  points  secured,  wit  and  fancy  may  cast  their 
lights  around  his  path,  provided  the  wit  be  courteous,  as 
well  as  brilliant,  and  the  fancy  chaste  and  modest.  But  they 
must  be  kept  well  in  the  background,  for  they  are  dangerous 
allies  ;  and  a  man  had  better  be  without  them,  than  to  show 
them  in  front,  or  to  show  them  too  often." 

These  precepts  are  excellent,  and  it  would  be  difficult  to 
find  a  better  code  for  the  student  of  oratory  of  the  same 
length. 

Mr.  Wirt  had  in  his  personal  appearance  much  about  him 
to  win  public  favour.  "  He  possessed  a  fine  person,  manners 
remarkably  conciliating,  and  coloquial  powers  of  the  highest 
order.  The  most  casual  glance  upon  him  in  repose  or 
action,  impressed  the  beholder  with  an  instinctive  sense 
of  his  superiority.  His  natural  air  was  dignified  and  com- 
manding ;  his  countenance  was  broad,  open,  manly  and  ex- 
pressive ;  his  eye  was  full  of  fire  and  feeling  ;  his  mouth 


OKA  TOR  Y  IN  A  ME  RICA .  353 


denoted  mingled  humour  and  firmness  ;  and  his  whole  ap- 
pearance was  truly  oratorical.  His  frame  was  large,  but 
agile  ;  his  nose  was  Roman,  his  complexion  pale  and  marked 
with  lines  of  thought ;  his  forehead  was  not  high,  but  broad  ; 
his  hair  was  sandy,  and  his  head  bald  on  the  top.  He  had 
great  original  powers  of  action,  but  spoke  with  a  chastened 
dignity  which  commanded  respect  bordering  on  awe.  Of 
him  it  might  have  been  said,  as  Dryden  in  his  time  declared 
of  Harte,  that  '  kings  and  princes  might  have  come  to  him, 
and  taken  lessons  how  to  comport  themselves  with  dignity.' 
Wirt's  impressiveness  resulted  from  the  aggregate  of  a  Cice- 
ronian person,  a  Chatham  face,  the  voice  of  Anthony,  and 
the  mental  qualities  of  Irving  and  Bowditch, —  a  model  of 
grace  and  a  master  of  dialectics, — poetry  and  philosophy  com- 
bined. He  had  much  of  the  acuteness  of  Marshall,  and  all 
the  intrepidity  of  Pinkney ;  but  in  his  composition,  there 
was  no  want  of  fluency,  and  no  insolence  or  exultation  of 
manner.  Judgment  and  imagination  lay  in  the  balance  of 
his  mind  in  such  delicate  and  equal  proportions  that  the  scale 
seldom  trembled,  and  the  splendours  that  encompassed  the 
glorious  combination  in  his  mature  life  was  never  obscured. 

"  Such  an  advocate  will  be  heard.  The  envious  and  fas- 
tidious may  pronounce  him  vague,  impalpable  or  diffuse, 
yet  all  are  compelled  to  listen  to  him  with  that  spell-bound 
emotion  which  is  always  produced  by  noble  and  harmonious 
eloquence  emanating  from  an  honest  and  impassioned  heart. 
Wirt  was  not  a  stranger  to  the  popular  esteem  which  such 
talents  command. 

"  His  pathos  was  refined  and  thrilling.  He  could  subdue 
all  his  admirable  powers  of  mind  and  voice  to  those  delicate 
tones  which  go  directly  to  the  heart,  like  zephyrs  changed 
to  angelic  strains  as  they  traverse  ^olian  strings.  Such  was 
his  power  when  he  described  female  innocence  and  beauty 
abandoned  by  him  who  had  basked  in  her  smiles,  and  who 
should  have  prevented  the  winds  of  heaven  from  visiting  her 
too  roughly,  now  left  *  shivering  at  midnight  on  the  winter 
banks  of  the  Ohio,  and  mingling  her  tears  with  the  torrent, 
which  froze  as  they  fell.' ' 


354  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


Another  description  of  Mr.  Wirt  and  of  his  oratory,  will 
be  found  interesting  :  "  His  manner  in  speaking  was  singu- 
larly attractive.  His  manly  form,  his  intellectual  counte- 
nance and  musical  voice,  set  off  by  a  rare  gracefulness  of 
gesture,  won,  in  advance  the  favour  of  his  auditory.  He 
was  calm,  deliberate,  and  distinct  in  his  enunciation,  not 
often  rising  into  any  high  exhibition  of  passion,  and  never 
sinking  into  tameness.  His  key  was  that  of  earnest  and 
animated  argument,  frequently  alternated  with  that  of  a 
playful  and  sprightly  humour.  His  language  was  neat,  well 
chosen,  and  uttered  without  impediment  or  slovenly  repeti- 
tion. The  tones  of  his  voice  played,  with  a  natural  skill, 
through  the  various  cadences  most  appropriate  to  express 
the  flitting  emotions  of  his  mind,  and  the  changes  of  his 
thought.  To  these  external  properties  of  his  elocution  we 
may  ascribe  the  pleasure  which  persons  of  all  conditions 
found  in  listening  to  him.  Women  often  crowded  the  court- 
rooms to  listen  to  him,  and  as  often  astonished  him,  not  only 
by  the  patience,  but  the  visible  enjoyment  with  which  they 
were  wont  to  sit  out  his  argument  to  the  end, — even  when 
the  topic  was  too  dry  to  interest  them,  or  too  obstruse  for 
them  to  understand  his  discourse.  It  was  the  charm  of 
manner,  of  which  the  delicate  tact  of  women  is  ever  found 
to  be  the  truest  gauge  and  the  most  appreciative  judge. 
His  oratory  was  not  of  that  strong,  bold  and  impetuous 
nature  which  is  often  the  chief  characteristic  of  the  highest 
eloquence,  and  which  is  said  to  sway  the  senate  with  abso- 
lute dominion,  and  to  imprison  or  set  free  the  storm  of 
human  passion  in  the  multitude,  according  to  the  speaker's 
will.  It  was  smootn,  polished,  scholar-like,  sparkling  with 
pleasant  fancies,  and  beguiling  the  listener  with  its  varied 
graces,  out  of  all  note  or  consciousness  of  time. 

"  Without  claiming  for  Mr.  Wirt  the  renown  of  the  most 
powerful  orator  or  the  profoundest  lawyer  in  the  country, 
it  is  sufficent  to  say,  that  he  stood  beside  the  first  men  of 
his  day,  equal  in  rank  and  repute,  and  superior  to  most,  if 
not  all,  in  the  various  accomplishments  which  he  brought  to 
the  adornment  of  his  profession." 


ORA  TOR  Y  IN  AMERICA.  355 


Mr.  Wirt's  sensibility  was  acute  and  his  imagination  re- 
fined. In  his  earlier  years  his  style  was,  at  times,  too  florid, 
but  as  he  grew  older  it  became  more  chaste  and  elegant. 
He  was  never  content  to  rest  on  his  laurels.  He  continued 
to  improve  as  he  advanced  in  life,  and.to  the  last  he  always 
invested  legal,  political,  or  other  topics  with  a  graceful  and 
charming  spirit,  and  yet  he  was  one  of  the  most  practical 
men  of  his  day. 

He  improved  to  the  last  not  only  as  an  advocate,  but  as  a 
counsellor  and  scholar.  The  young  candidate  for  forensic 
fame  or  political  honours  would  do  well  to  imitate  his 
example. 

Mr.  Wirt  devoted  his  whole  soul  to  the  interests  of  his 
clients,  and  in  this  he  was  wise,  for  a  lawyer  who  does  not 
sincerely  believe  that  his  client  ought  to  have  a  verdict  will 
be  apt  to  lose  his  case.  His  own  unbelief  will  certainly  be 
noticed  by  the  jury,  and  will  prove  fatal  to  his  case.  No  pro- 
testations which  do  not  come  from  the  heart  will  prevent  it. 

Swedenborg,  who  could  see  more  than  any  man  of  his 
day,  both  in  this  world  and  in  the  realm  of  disembodied 
spirits,  professed  to  have  seen  in  the  spiritual  world  a  num- 
ber of  persons  endeavouring  in  vain  to  express  a  proposition 
which  they  did  not  believe ;  but  it  was  impossible,  though 
in  repeated  attempts  their  faces  were  distorted  with  rage, 
and  their  lips  quivered  with  indignation. 

Mr.  Wirt's  account  of  a  sermon  he  heard  preached  by  a 
blind  minister  gives  a  fair  specimen  of  his  narrative  style : 

"  It  was  one  Sunday,  as  I  was  travelling  through  the 
county  of  Orange,  that  my  eye  was  caught  by  a  cluster  of 
horses  tied  near  a  ruinous  old  wooden  house,  in  the  forest, 
not  far  from  the  roadside.  Having  frequently  seen  such 
objects  before  in  travelling  through  these  states,  I  had  no 
difficulty  in  understanding  that  this  was  a  place  of  religious 
worship. 

"  Devotion,  alone  should  have  stopped  me  to  join  the  duties 
of  the  congregation  ;  but  I  must  confess  that  curiosity  to 
hear  the  preacher  of  such  a  wilderness  was  not  the  least  of 
my  motives.  On  entering  I  was  struck  with  his  preter- 


356  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


natural  appearance.  He  was  a  tall  and  very  spare  old  man ; 
his  head,  which  was  covered  with  a  white  linen  cap,  his 
shrivelled  hands,  and  his  voice,  were  all  shaking  under  the 
influence  of  a  palsy ;  and  a  few  moments  ascertained  to  me 
that  he  was  perfectly.blind. 

"  The  first  emotions  which  touched  my  breast  were  those 
of  mingled  pity  and  veneration.  But  how  soon  were  all 
my  feelings  changed !  It  was  a  day  of  the  administration 
of  the  sacrament ;  and  his  subject,  of  course,  was  the  pas- 
sion of  our  Saviour.  I  had  heard  the  subject  handled  a 
thousand  times.  I  had  thought  it  exhausted  long  ago. 

"  Little  did  I  suppose  that  in  the  wild  woods  of  America 
I  was  to  meet  with  a  man  whose  eloquence  would  give  to 
this  topic  a  new  and  more  sublime  pathos  than  I  had  ever 
before  witnessed.  As  he  descended  from  the  pulpit  to  dis- 
tribute the  mystic  symbols,  there  was  a  peculiar — a  more 
than  human  solemnity  in  his  air  and  manner,  which  made 
my  blood  run  cold,  and  my  whole  frame  shiver. 

"  He  then  drew  a  picture  of  the  sufferings  of  our  Saviour 
—his  trial  before  Pilate — his  ascent  up  Calvary — his  cruci- 
fixion— and  his  death.  I  knew  the  whole  history  ;  but 
never,  until  then,  had  I  heard  the  circumstances  so  selected, 
so  arranged,  so  coloured  !  It  was  all  new  ;  and  I  seemed  to 
have  heard  it  for  the  first  time  in  my  life. 

"  But  when  he  came  to  touch  on  the  patience,  the  forgiv- 
ing meekness  of  our  Saviour  ;  when  he  drew,  to  the  life,  his 
blessed  eyes  streaming  in  tears  to  heaven,  his  voice  breath- 
ing to  God  a  soft  and  gentle  prayer  of  pardon  on  his  enemies, 
'  Father,  forgive  them,  for  they  know  not  what  they  do/ 
the  voice  of  the  preacher,  which  had  all  along  faltered,  grew 
fainter  and  fainter,  until,  his  utterance  being  entirely  ob- 
structed by  the  force  of  his  feelings,  he  raised  his  hander- 
chief  to  his  eyes,  and  burst  into  a  loud  and  irrepressible 
flood  of  grief.  The  effect  was  inconceivable.  The  whole 
house  resounded  with  the  mingled  groans,  and  sobs,  and 
shrieks  of  the  congregation. 

"  It  was  some  time  before  the  tumult  had  subsided  so  far 
as  to  permit  him  to  proceed.  Indeed,  judging  by  the  usual 


ORATORY  IN  AMERICA. 

but  fallacious  standard  of  my  own  weakness,  I  began  to  be 
very  uneasy  for  the  situation  of  the  preacher ;  for  I  could 
not  conceive  how  he  would  be  able  to  let  his  audience 
down  from  the  height  to  which  he  had  wound  them,  with- 
out impairing  the  solemnity  and  dignity  of  his  subject,  or 
perhaps  shocking  them  by  the  abruptness  of  the  fall.  But 
the  descent  was  as  beautiful  and  sublime  as  the  elevation ' 
had  been  rapid  and  enthusiastic. 

"  The  first  sentence  with  which  he  broke  the  awful  silence 
was  a  quotation  from  Rosseau.  *  Socrates  died  like  a  phi- 
losopher, but  Jesus  Christ — like  a  God.'  I  despair  of  giving 
you  any  idea  of  the  effect  produced  by  this  short  sentence, 
unless  you  could  perfectly  conceive  the  whole  manner  of 
the  man,  as  well  as  the  peculiar  crisis  in  the  discourse. 
Never  before  did  I  completely  understand  what  Demos- 
thenes meant  by  laying  such  stress  on  delivery. 

"  You  are  to  call  to  mind  the  pitch  of  passion  and  enthu- 
siasm to  which  the  congregation  were  raised  ;  and  then,  the 
few  minutes  of  portentous,  death-like  silence  which  reigned 
throughout  the  house  ;  the  preacher,  removing  his  white 
handkerchief  from  his  aged  face  (even  yet  wet  from  the 
recent  torrent  of  his  tears),  and  slowly  stretching  forth  the 
palsied  hand  which  holds  it,  as  he  begins  the  sentence, 
'  Socrates  died  like  a  philosopher,'  then  pausing,  raising 
his  other  hand,  pressing  them  both,  clasped  together,  with 
warmth  and  energy  to  his  breast,  lifting  his  '  sightless  balls ' 
to  heaven,  and  pouring  his  whole  soul  into  his  tremulous 
voice  as  he  continues,  '  but  Jesus  Christ — like  a  God!'  If 
he  had  been  in  deed  and  in  truth  an  angel  of  light,  the  effect 
could  scarcely  have  been  more  divine." 

Everett. — Edward  Everett  was  born  in  Dorchester,  Mass., 
on  the  i  ith  day  of  April,  1794.  He  began  his  education  at 
the  public  schools  of  Dorchester  and  Boston.  He  graduated 
at  Harvard  University  in  his  seventeenth  year,  and  was 
a  tutor  there  until  his  twentieth  year.  About  this  time  he 
was  called  to  the  ministry.  He  spent  four  years  in  Europe 
in  order  to  prepare  himself  for  the  Greek  professorship  at 
Harvard.  He  filled  various  positions  of  honour  and  trust, 


358  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


having  been  member  of  Congress,  United  States  Senator, 
Governor  of  his  native  state,  and  Secretary  of  State  of  the 
United  States,  and  the  candidate  on  the  Union  ticket  for  the 
Vice-Presidency  in  1860.  He  died  January  15,  1865. 

Mr.  Everett  was  one  of  the  most  graceful  and  polished 
speakers  of  modern  times.  He  was  called  the  "  golden- 
mouthed  orator "  by  his  friends  and  contemporaries, 
Choate,  Webster  and  Phillips. 

In  preparing  his  speeches  no  detail  was  too  minute  to 
escape  his  care — invention,  arrangement  of  matter,  expres- 
sion, intonation  and  gesture  —  all  received  the  greatest 
attention. 

Mr.  Everett's  eloquence  was  of  the  Ciceronian  order — 
copious,  graceful,  and  flowing.  He  also  resembled  Cicero 
in  the  variety — and  extent  of  his  knowledge.  His  memory 
was  very  retentive. 

His  sensibilities  were  refined.  His  imagination  rich  and 
sparkling.  His  gestures  were  graceful,  and  appropriate,  and 
the  tones  of  his  voice  clear,  sweet  and  melodious.  His 
manner  was  elegant  and  persuasive.  It  is  said  that  no  one 
could  listen  to  him  without  being  moved,  instructed,  and 
delighted. 

The  following  extracts  from  his  magnificent  orations,  the 
author  trusts,  will  prove  interesting  to  his  readers. 

Speaking  of  the  "  Advantages  of  Adversity  to  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers,"  he  said : 

'*  From  the  dark  portals  of  the  star-chamber,  and  in  the 
stern  text  of  the  acts  of  uniformity,  the  pilgrims  received  a 
commission,  more  efficient  than  any  that  ever  bore  the 
royal  seal.  Their  banishment  to  Holland  was  fortunate  ; 
the  decline  of  their  little  company  in  the  strange  land  was 
fortunate  ;  the  difficulties  which  they  experienced  in  getting 
the  royal  consent  to  banish  themselves  to  this  wilderness 
were  fortunate  ;  all  the  tears  and  heart-breakings  of  that 
ever  memorable  parting  at  Delfthaven '  had  the  happiest 
influence  on  the  rising  destinies  of  New  England. 

1  Delft  ha'ven,  a  fortified  town  in  South  Holland  (now  Belgium),  between 
Rotterdam  and  Schiedam.  At  this  place  the  Pilgrims  of  New  England  took 
their  last  farewell  of  their  European  friends. 


ORATORY  IN  AMERICA.  359 


"  All  this  purified  the  ranks  of  the  settlers.  These  rough 
touches  of  fortune  brushed  off  the  light,  uncertain,  selfish 
spirits.  They  made  it  a  grave,  solemn,  self-denying  expedi- 
tion, and  required  of  those  who  engaged  in  it  to  be  so  too. 
They  cast  a  broad  shadow  of  thought  and  seriousness  over 
the  cause  ;  and,  if  this  sometimes  deepened  into  melancholy 
and  bitterness,  can  we  find  no  apology  for  such  a  human 
weakness  ? 

"  It  is  sad,  indeed,  to  reflect  on  the  disasters  which  the 
little  band  of  Pilgrims  encountered  ;  sad  to  see  a  portion  of 
them,  the  prey  of  unrelenting  cupidity,  treacherously  em- 
barked in  an  unsound,  unseaworthy  ship,  which  they  are 
soon  obliged  to  abandon,  and  crowd  themselves  into  one 
vessel  ;  one  hundred  persons,  besides  the  ship's  company,  in 
a  vessel  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  tons.  One  is  touched  at 
the  story  of  the  long,  cold,  and  weary  autumnal  passage  ; 
of  the  landing  on  the  inhospitable  rocks  at  this  dismal  sea- 
son ;  where  they  are  deserted,  before  long,  by  the  ship 
which  had  brought  them,  and  which  seemed  their  only  hold 
upon  the  world  of  fellow-men,  a  prey  to  the  elements  and 
to  want,  and  fearfully  ignorant  of  the  numbers,  the  power, 
and  the  temper  of  the  savage  tribes,  that  filled  the  unex- 
plored continent,  upon  whose  verge  they  had  ventured. 

"  But  all  this  wrought  together  for  good.  These  trials  of 
wandering  and  exile,  of  the  ocean,  the  winter,  the  wilderness, 
and  the  savage  foe,  were  the  final  assurances  of  success.  It 
was  these  that  put  far  away  from  our  father's  cause  all 
patrician  softness,  all  hereditary  claims  to  pre-eminence.  No 
effeminate  nobility  crowded  into  the  dark  and  austere  ranks 
of  the  Pilgrims.  No  Carr  nor  Villiers  would  lead  on  the  ill- 
provided  band  of  despised  Puritans.  No  well-endowed 
clergy  were  on  the  alert  to  quit  their  cathedrals,  and  to  set 
up  a  pompous  hierarchy  in  the  frozen  wilderness.  No 
craving  governors  were  anxious  to  be  sent  over  to  our  cheer- 
less El  Dorados  of  ice  and  snow. 

"  No ;  they  could  not  say  they  had  encouraged,  patron- 
ized, or  helped  the  Pilgrims  :  their  own  cares,  their  own 
labours,  their  own  councils,  their  own  blood,  contrived  all, 
bore  all,  sealed  all.  They  could  not  afterward  fairly  pre- 


360  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 

tend  to  reap  where  they  had  not  strewn  ;  and,  as  our  fathers 
reared  this  broad  and  solid  fabric  with  pains  and  watchful- 
ness, unaided,  barely  tolerated,  it  did  not  fall  when  the 
favour,  which  had  always  been  withholden,  was  changed  into 
wrath ;  when  the  arm,  which  had  never  supported,  was 
raised  to  destroy. 

"  Methinks  I  see  it  now,  that  one  solitary,  adventurous 
vessel,  the  Mayflower  of  a  forlorn  hope,  freighted  with  the 
prospects  of  a  future  state,  and  bound  across  the  unknown 
sea.  I  behold  it  pursuing,  with  a  thousand  misgivings,  the 
uncertain,  the  tedious  voyage.  Suns  rise  and  set,  and  weeks 
and  months  pass,  and  winter  surprises  them  on  the  deep, 
but  brings  them  not  the  sight  of  the  wished-for  shore. 

"  I  see  them  now  scantily  supplied  with  provisions ; 
crowded  almost  to  suffocation  in  their  ill-stored  prison ; 
delayed  by  calms,  pursuing  a  circuitous  route, — and  now 
driven  in  fury  before  the  raging  tempest,  on  the  high  and 
giddy  waves.  The  awful  voice  of  the  storm  howls  through 
the  rigging.  The  labouring  masts  seem  straining  from  their 
base ;  the  dismal  sound  of  the  pumps  is  heard  ;  the  ship 
leaps,  as  it  were,  madly,  from  billow  to  billow  ;  the  ocean 
breaks,  and  settles  with  ingulfing  floods  over  the  floating 
deck,  and  beats,  with  deadening,  shivering  weight,  against 
the  staggered  vessel. 

"  I  see  them,  escaped  from  these  perils,  pursuing  their  all 
but  desperate  undertaking,  and  landed  at  last,  after  a  five 
months'  passage,  on  the  ice-clad  rocks  of  Plymouth, — weak 
and  weary  from  the  voyage,  poorly  armed,  scantily  provi- 
sioned, depending  on  the  charity  of  their  shipmaster  for  a 
draught  of  beer  on  board,  drinking  nothing  but  water  on 
shore, — without  shelter,  without  means, — surrounded  by 
hostile  tribes. 

"  Shut  now  the  volume  of  history,  and  tell  me,  on  any  prin- 
ciple of  human  probability,  what  shall  be  the  fate  of  this 
handful  of  adventurers.  Tell  me,  man  of  military  science,, 
in  how  many  months  were  they  all  swept  off  by  the  thirty 
savage  tribes,  enumerated  within  the  early  limits  of  New 
England  ?  Tell  me,  politician,  how  long  did  this  shadow  of 


ORATORY  IN  AMERICA.  361 


a  colony,  on  which  your  conventions  and  treaties  had  not 
smiled,  languish  on  the  distant  coast  ?  Student  of  history, 
compare  forme  the  baffled  projects,  the  deserted  settlements, 
the  abandoned  adventures  of  other  times,  and  find  the  par- 
allel of  this. 

"  Was  it  the  winter's  storm,  beating  upon  the  houseless 
heads  of  women  and  children  ;  was  it  hard  labour  and  spare 
meals  ;  was  it  disease  ;  was  it  the  tomahawk  ;  was  it  the 
deep  malady  of  a  blighted  hope,  a  ruined  enterprise,  and  a 
broken  heart,  aching  in  its  last  moments  at  the  recollection 
of  the  loved  and  left  beyond  the  sea  ; — was  it  some  or  all 
of  these  united,  that  hurried  this  forsaken  company  to  their 
melancholy  fate  ?  And  is  it  possible  that  neither  of  these 
causes,  that  not  all  combined,  were  able  to  blast  this  bud  of 
hope  ?  Is  it  possible  that,  from  a  beginning  so  feeble,  so 
frail,  so  worthy  not  so  much  of  admiration  as  of  pity,  there 
has  gone  forth  a  progress  so  steady,  a  growth  so  wonderful, 
an  expansion  so  ample,  a  reality  so  important,  a  promise, 
yet  to  be  fulfilled,  so  glorious  ?  " 

From  an  "  Address  on  the  Uses  of  Astronomy,"  the  fol- 
lowing beautiful  passage,  descriptive  of  sunrise  and  early 
dawn,  is  taken  : 

"  Much  as  we  are  indebted  to  our  observatories  for  eleva- 
ting our  conceptions  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  they  present, 
even  to  the  unaided  sight,  scenes  of  glory  which  words  are 
too  feeble  to  describe.  I  had  occasion,  a  few  weeks  since, 
to  take  the  early  train  from  Providence  to  Boston,  and  for 
this  purpose  rose  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morning.  Everything 
around  was  wrapped  in  darkness  and  hushed  in  silence,  bro- 
ken only  by  what  seemed  at  that  hour  the  unearthly  clank 
and  rush  of  the  train.  It  was  a  mild,  serene,  midsummer's 
night ;  the  sky  was  without  a  cloud,  the  winds  were  hushed. 

"  The  moon,  then  in  the  last  quarter,  had  just  risen,  and 
the  stars  shone  with  a  spectral  lustre  but  little  affected  by 
her  presence.  Jupiter,  two  hours  high,  was  the  herald  of  the 
day  ;  the  Pleiades,  just  above  the  horizon,  shed  their  sweet 
influence  in  the  east  ;  Lyra  sparkled  near  the  zenith ;  An- 
dromeda veiled  her  newly  discovered  glories  from  the  naked 


362  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 

eye  in  the  south ;  the  steady  Pointers,  far  beneath  the  pole, 
looked  meekly  up,  from  the  depths  of  the  north,  to  their 
sovereign.  Such  was  the  glorious  spectacle  as  I  entered  the 
train.  As  we  proceeded,  the  timid  approach  of  twilight  be- 
came more  perceptible  ;  the  intense  blue  of  the  sky  began 
to  soften  ;  the  smaller  stars,  like  little  children,  went  first  to 
rest ;  the  sister  beams  of  the  Pleiades  soon  melted  together ; 
but  the  bright  constellations  of  the  west  and  north  remained 
unchanged.  Steadily  the  wondrous  transfiguration  went 
on.  Hands  of  angels,  hidden  from  mortal  eyes,  shifted  the 
scenery  of  the  heavens  ;  the  glories  of  night  dissolved  into 
the  glories  of  the  dawn. 

"  The  blue  sky  now  turned  more  softly  gray ;  the  great 
watch-stars  shut  up  their  holy  eyes  ;  the  east  began  to  kindle. 
Faint  streaks  of  purple  soon  blushed  along  the  sky  ;  the 
whole  celestial  concave  was  filled  with  the  inflowing  tides  of 
the  morning  light,  which  came  pouring  down  from  above  in 
one  great  ocean  of  radiance  ;  till  at  length,  as  we  reached 
the  Blue  Hills,  a  flush  of  purple  fire  blazed  out  from  above 
the  horizon,  and  turned  the  dewy  tear-drops  of  flower  and 
leaf  into  rubies  and  diamonds.  In  a  few  seconds,  the  ever- 
lasting gates  of  the  morning  were  thrown  wide  open,  and  the 
lord  of  day,  arrayed  in  glories  too  severe  for  the  gaze  of 
man,  began  his  state. 

"  I  do  not  wonder  at  the  superstition  of  the  ancient  Ma- 
gians,  who,  in  the  morning  of  the  world,  went  up  to  the  hill- 
tops of  Central  Asia,  and,  ignorant  of  the  true  God,  adored 
the  most  glorious  work  of  His  hand.  But  I  am  filled  with 
amazement  when  I  am  told  that,  in  this  enlightened  age, 
and  in  the  heart  of  the  Christian  world,  there  are  persons  who 
can  witness  the  daily  manifestation  of  the  power  and  wisdom 
of  the  Creator  and  yet  say  in  their  hearts,  '  There  is  no  God.' ' 

The  following  passage  contains  Mr.  Everett's  celebrated 
panegyric  on  England  : 

"  No  character  is  perfect  among  nations,  more  than  among 
men ;  but  it  must  needs  be  conceded,  that  of  all  the  states 
of  Europe,  England  has  been,  from  an  early  period,  the 
most  favoured  abode  of  liberty  ;  the  only  part  of  Europe 


ORATORY  IN  AMERICA.  363 

where,  for  any  length  of  time,  constitutional  liberty  can  be 
said  to  have  a  stable  existence.  We  can  scarcely  contem- 
plate with  patience  the  idea,  that  we  might  have  been  a 
Spanish  colony,  a  Portuguese  colony,  or  a  Dutch  colony. 
What  hope  can  there  be  for  the  colonies  of  nations  which 
possess  themselves  no  spring  of  improvement,  and  tolerate 
none  in  the  regions  over  which  they  rule  ;  whose  adminis- 
tration sets  no  bright  examples  of  parliamentary  indepen- 
dence ;  whose  languages  send  out  no  reviving  lessons  of 
sound  and  practical  science,  of  manly  literature,  of  sound 
philosophy,  but  repeat,  with  every  ship  that  cross.es  the 
Atlantic,  the  same  debasing  voice  of  despotism,  bigotry,  and 
antiquated  superstition? 

"  What  citizen  of  our  Republic  is  not  grateful  in  the  con- 
trast which  our  history  presents  ?  Who  does  not  feel,  what 
reflecting  American  does  not  acknowledge,  the  incalculable 
advantages  derived  to  this  land  out  of  the  deep  fountains  of 
civil,  intellectual,  and  moral  truth,  from  which  we  have 
drawn  in  England  ?  What  American  does  not  feel  proud 
that  his  fathers  were  the  countrymen  of  Bacon,  of  Newton 
and  of  Locke  ?  Who  does  not  know  that,  while  every 
pulse  of  civil  liberty  in  the  heart  of  the  British  empire  beat 
warm  and  full  in  the  bosom  of  our  ancestors,  the  sobriety, 
the  firmness,  and  the  dignity,  with  which  the  cause  of  free 
principles  struggled  into  existence  here,  constantly  found 
encouragement  and  countenance  from  the  friends  of  liberty 
there  ? 

"  Who  does  not  remember  that,  when  the  Pilgrims  went 
over  the  sea,  the  prayers  of  the  faithful  British  confessors, 
in  all  the  quarters  of  their  dispersion,  went  over  with  them, 
while  their  aching  eyes  were  strained  till  the  star  of  hope 
should  go  up  in  the  western  skies?  And  who  will  ever  for- 
get that,  in  that  eventful  struggle  which  severed  these 
youthful  republics  from  the  British  crown,  there  was  not 
heard,  throughout  our  continent  in  arms,  a  voice  which 
spoke  louder  for  the  rights  of  America,  than  that  of  Burke 
or  of  Chatham  within  the  walls  of  the  British  Parliament, 
and  at  the  foot  of  the  British  throne  ? 


364  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


"  No  ;  for  myself,  I  can  truly  say  that,  after  my  native 
land,  I  feel  a  tenderness  and  a  reverence  for  that  of  my 
fathers.  The  pride  I  take  in  my  own  country  makes  me 
respect  that  from  which  we  are  sprung.  In  touching  the 
soil  of  England,  I  seem  to  return,  like  a  descendant,  to  the 
old  family  seat ;  to  come  back  to  the  abode  of  an  aged  and 
venerable  parent.  I  acknowledge  this  great  consanguinity 
of  nations.  The  sound  of  my  native  language  beyond  the 
sea  is  a  music  to  my  ear,  beyond  the  richest  strains  of  Tus- 
can softness  or  Castilian  majesty.  I  am  not  yet  in  a  land  of 
strangers,  while  surrounded  by  the  manners,  the  habits,  and 
the  institutions  under  which  I  have  been  brought  up. 

"  I  wander  delighted  through  a  thousand  scenes,  which  the 
historians  and  poets  have  made  familiar  to  us,  of  which  the 
names  are  interwoven  with  our  earliest  associations.  I  tread 
with  reverence  the  spots  where  I  can  retrace  the  footsteps 
of  our  suffering  fathers ;  the  pleasant  land  of  their  birth  has 
a  claim  on  my  heart.  It  seems  to  me  a  classic,  yea,  a  holy 
land  ;  rich  in  the  memory  of  the  great  and  good,  the  cham- 
pions and  the  martyrs  of  liberty,  the  exiled  heralds  of 
truth ;  and  richer  as  the  parent  of  this  land  of  promise  in 
the  West. 

"  I  am  not — I  need  not  say  I  am  not — the  panegyrist  of 
England.  I  am  not  dazzled  by  her  riches,  nor  awed  by  her 
power.  The  sceptre,  the  mitre,  and  the  coronet, — stars, 
garters,  and  blue  ribbons, —  seem  to  me  poor  things  for 
great  men  to  contend  for.  Nor  is  my  admiration  awakened 
by  her  armies  mustered  for  the  battles  of  Europe,  her  navies 
overshadowing  the  ocean,  nor  her  empire  grasping  the  far- 
thest East.  It  is  these,  and  the  price  of  guilt  and  blood  by 
which  they  are  too  often  maintained,  which  are  the  cause 
why  no  friend  of  liberty  can  salute  her  with  undivided  af- 
fections. 

"  But  it  is  the  cradle  and  the  refuge  of  free  principles, 
though  often  persecuted  ;  the  school  of  religious  liberty,  the 
more  precious  for  the  struggles  through  which  it  has  passed  ; 
the  tombs  of  those  who  have  reflected  honour  on  all  who 
speak  the  English  tongue  ;  it  is  the  birthplace  of  our  fathers, 


OKA  TORY  IN  AMERICA.  365 


the  home  of  the  Pilgrims; — it  is  these  which  I  love  and 
venerate  in  England.  I  should  feel  ashamed  of  an  enthusi- 
asm for  Italy  and  Greece,  did  I  not  also  feel  it  for  a  land 
like  this.  In  an  American,  it  would  seem  to  me  degenerate 
and  ungrateful  to  hang  with  passion  upon  the  traces  of 
Homer  and  Virgil,  and  follow  without  emotion  the  nearer 
and  plainer  footsteps  of  Shakespeare  and  Milton.  I  should 
think  him  cold  in  his  love  for  his  native  land  who  felt  no 
melting  in  his  heart  for  that  other  native  country  which 
holds  the  ashes  of  his  forefathers." 

The  following  eloquent  passage,  on  knowledge,  is  taken 
from  one  of  Mr.  Everett's  addresses  on  "  Education  Fa- 
vourable to  Liberty,  Morals,  and  Knowledge,"  delivered  at 
Amherst  College,  August  25,  1835  : 

"  What  is  human  knowledge  ?  It  is  the  cultivation  and 
improvement  of  the  spiritual  principle  in  man.  We  are 
composed  of  two  elements :  the  one,  a  little  dust  caught  up 
from  the  earth,  to  which  we  shall  soon  return  ;  the  other,  a 
spark  of  that  divine  intelligence,  in  which  and  through 
which  we  bear  the  image  of  the  great  Creator.  By  know- 
ledge the  wings  of  the  intellect  are  spread ;  by  ignorance, 
they  are  closed  and  palsied,  and  the  physical  passions  are 
left  to  gain  the  ascendancy.  Knowledge  opens  all  the 
senses  to  the  wonders  of  creation  ;  ignorance  seals  them  all 
up,  and  leaves  the  animal  propensities  unbalanced  by  re- 
flection, enthusiasm,  and  taste.  To  the  ignorant  man  the 
glorious  pomp  of  day,  the  sparkling  mysteries  of  night,  the 
majestic  ocean,  the  rushing  storm,  the  plenty-bearing  river, 
the  salubrious  breeze,  the  fertile  field,  the  docile  animal 
tribes,  the  broad,  the  various,  the  unexhausted  domain  of 
nature,  are  a  mere  outward  pageant,  poorly  understood 
in  their  character  and  harmony  and  prized  only  so  far  as 
they  minister  to  the  supply  of  sensual  wants.  How  differ- 
ent the  scene  to  the  man  whose  mind  is  stored  with  know- 
ledge !  For  him  the  mystery  is  unfolded,  the  veils  lifted  up, 
as  one  after  another  he  turns  the  leaves  of  that  great  volume 
of  creation,  which  is  filled  in  every  page  with  the  characters 
of  wisdom,  power,  and  love  ;  with  lessons  of  truth  the  most 


366  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


exalted  ;  with  images  of  unspeakable  loveliness  and  wonder  ; 
arguments  of  Providence ;  food  for  meditation  ;  themes  of 
praise.  One  noble  science  sends  him  to  the  barren  hills, 
and  teaches  him  to  survey  their  broken  precipices.  Where 
ignorance  beholds  nothing  but  a  rough,  inorganic  mass, 
instruction  discerns  the  intelligible  record  of  the  primal 
convulsions  of  the  world  ;  the  secrets  of  ages  before  man 
was ;  the  landmarks  of  the  elemental  struggles  and  throes  of 
what  is  now  the  terraqueous  globe.  Buried  monsters,  of 
which  the  races  are  now  extinct,  are  dragged  out  of  deep 
strata,  dug  out  of  eternal  rocks,  and  brought  almost  to  life, 
to  bear  witness  to  the  power  that  created  them.  Before  the 
admiring  student  of  nature  has  realised  all  of  the  wonders 
of  the  elder  world,  thus,  as  it  were,  re-created  by  science, 
another  delightful  instructress,  with  her  microscope  in  her 
hand,  bids  him  sit  down  and  learn  at  last  to  know  the  uni- 
verse in  which  he  lives,  and  contemplate  the  limbs,  the 
motions,  the  circulations  of  races  of  animals,  disporting  in 
their  tempestuous  ocean — a  drop  of  water.  Then,  while 
his  whole  soul  is  penetrated  with  admiration  of  the  power 
which  has  filled  with  life,  and  motion,  and  sense  these  all 
but  non-existent  atoms,  oh!  then,  let  the  divinest  of  the 
muses,  let  Astronomy  approach,  and  take  him  by  the  hand ; 
let  her 

'  Come,  but  keep  her  wonted  state, 
With  even  step  and  musing  gait, 
And  looks  commercing  with  the  skies, 
Her  rapt  soul  sitting  in  her  eyes.' 

Let  her  lead  him  to  the  mount  of  vision  ;  let  her  turn  her 
heaven-piercing  tube  to  the  sparkling  vault ;  through  that 
let  him  observe  the  serene  star  of  evening,  and  see  it  trans- 
formed into  a  cloud-encompassed  orb,  a  world  of  rugged 
mountains  and  stormy  deeps ;  or  behold  the  pale  beams  of 
Saturn,  lost  to  the  untaught  observer  amidst  myriads  of 
brighter  stars,  and  see  them  expand  into  the  broad  disk  of  a 
noble  planet, — the  seven  attendant  worlds,  the  wondrous 
rings, — a  mighty  system  in  itself,  borne  at  the  rate  of  twenty- 


ORATORY  IN  AMERICA.  367 


two  thousand  miles  an  hour  on  its  broad  pathway  through 
the  heavens  ;  and  then  let  him  reflect  that  our  great  solar 
system,  of  which  Saturn  and  his  stupendous  retinue  is  but  a 
small  part,  fills  itself,  in  the  general  structure  of  the  uni- 
verse, but  the  space  of  one  fixed  star ;  and  that  the  power 
which  filled  the  drop  of  water  with  millions  of  living  beings 
is  present  and  active  throughout  this  illimitable  creation ! — 
Yes,  yes, 

'  An  undevout  astronomer  is  mad  ! ' ' 

Corwin. — Thomas  Corwin,  one  of  the  greatest  natural 
orators  that  ever  lived  in  America,  was  born  in  Bourbon 
County,  Kentucky,  July  29,  1794.  In  the  year'  1798,  his 
parents  went  to  Ohio. 

Mr.  Corwin,  as  a  young  man,  was  studious  in  his  habits, 
and  was  fitted  at  an  early  day  to  exert  a  decided  influence 
upon  those  around  him,  in  concerns  of  a  general  public 
interest. 

He  was  well  grounded  in  the  principles  calculated  to 
make  a  public  man  eminently  useful,  before  he  entered 
public  life. 

In  Congress,  his  appearance  in  debate  was  rare,  but  when 
he  spoke  he  commanded  the  greatest  attention. 

He  who  is  destined  to  become  a  great  orator  must  not 
only  understand  thoroughly  the  laws  which  govern  the 
human  mind,  but  by  critical  observations  in  the  outward 
world,  and  through  self-analysis,  he  should  master  those 
traits  by  which  various  classes  are  individualised,  and  hence 
can  palpably  portray  the  hopes  and  feelings  of  all  bosoms, — 
"  like  the  Arabian  Magician,  he  holds  a  polished  mirror  to 
our  gaze,  wherein  we  behold  not  ourselves  and  the  present 
only,  but  the  thoughts  and  emotions  of  the  past,  scenes  the 
most  remote,  and  characters  the  most  diversified.  Men 
thus  endowed  will  touch  most  sensibly  a  mixed  audience,  as 
well  as  interest  to  the  greatest  degree  the  most  refined. 
Not  only  his  graver  productions  will  the  erudite  enjoy,  but, 
in  common  with  the  unsophisticated  masses,  they  will 
keenly  relish  his  lighter  and  more  homely  strains." 


368  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


Said' Michael  Angelo  to  the  young  sculptor:  "  Do  not 
trouble  yourself  too  much  about  the  light  on  your  statue, 
the  light  of  the  public  square  will  test  its  value."  So  candi- 
dates for  public  favour  are  sure  to  be  most  successful  who 
seek  rather  to  deserve  public  favour  than  to  forestall  it. 

These  truths  Mr.  Corwin  thoroughly  understood  and  ap- 
preciated. His  chief  study  was  man,  and  his  school  society 
at  large.  Therein  he  learned  to  draw  the  subtle  discrimina- 
tions of  mental  action  in  every  stage  of  life,  and  amongst 
every  class  of  mankind.  He  was  powerful  because  he  was 
true.  He  expressed,  frankly  and  fearlessly,  what  he  dis- 
tinctly saw  and  acutely  felt. 

Mr.  Corwin  was  usually  very  courteous  in  debate,  but 
when  he  or  his  friends  were  attacked  he  usually  replied  to 
his  adversary  with  effect.  His  vindication  of  the  patriotic 
Harrison  from  the  attack  of  General  Crary,  of  Michigan,  is 
an  example  in  point.  General  Crary,  on  the  I4th  of  Febru- 
ary, 1840,  in  a  debate  on  the  Cumberland  Road  in  Congress, 
endeavoured  to  enlighten  mankind  with  his  views  of  Gen- 
eral Harrison's  deficiencies  as  a  military  commander,  his 
mistakes  at  Tippecanoe,  etc.  Mr.  Corwin  replied  in  a 
speech  replete  with  sarcasm,  humour,  and  ridicule.  Crary 
was  completely  overwhelmed,  and  John  Quincy  Adams  a 
few  days  after  referred  to  him  as  "  the  late  Mr.  Crary."  The 
following  passage  will  give  some  idea  of  the  scathing  wit 
with  which  the  speech  abounds: 

"  In  all  other  countries,  and  in  all  former  times,  a  gentle- 
man who  would  either  speak  or  be  listened  to  on  the  subject 
of  war,  involving  subtle  criticisms  and  strategy,  and  careful 
reviews  of  marches,  sieges,  battles,  regular  and  casual,  and 
irregular  onslaughts,  would  be  required  to  show,  first,  that 
he  had  studied  much,  investigated  fully,  and  digested  the 
science  and  history  of  his  subject.  But  here,  sir,  no  such 
painful  preparation  is  required  ;  witness  the  gentleman  from 
Michigan !  He  has  announced  to  the  House  that  he  is  a 
militia  general  on  the  peace  establishment !  That  he  is  a 
lawyer  we  know,  tolerably  well  read  in  Tidd's  Practice  and 
Espinasse's  Nisi  Prius.  These  studies,  so  happily  adapted 


ORATORY  IN  AMERICA.  369 


to  the  subject  of  war,  with  an  appointment  in  the  militia  in 
time  of  peace,  furnish  him  at  once  with  all  the  knowledge 
necessary  to  discourse  to  us,  as  from  high  authority,  upon 
all  the  mysteries  of  the  '  trade  of  death.'  Again,  Mr. 
Speaker,  it  must  occur  to  every  one,  that  we,  to  whom  these 
questions  are  submitted  and  these  military  criticisms  are 
addressed,  being  all  colonels  at  least,  and  most  of  us,  like 
the  gentleman  himself,  brigadiers,  are,  of  all  conceivable 
tribunals,  best  qualified  to  decide  any  nice  points  connected 
with  military  science.  I  hope  the  House  will  not  be  alarmed 
with  the  impression  that  I  am  about  to  discuss  one  or  the 
other  of  the  military  questions  now  before  us  at  length,  but 
I  wish  to  submit  a  remark  or  two,  by  way  of  preparing  us 
for  a  proper  appreciation  of  the  merits  of  the  discourse  we 
have  heard.  I  trust  as  we  are  all  brother-officers,  that  the 
gentleman  from  Michigan,  and  the  two  hundred  and  forty 
colonels  or  generals  of  this  honourable  House,  will  receive 
what  I  have  to  say  as  coming  from  an  old  brother  in  arms, 
and  addressed  to  them  in  a  spirit  of  candour, 

'  Such  as  becometh  comrades  free, 
Reposing  after  victory.' 

"  Sir,  we  all  know  the  military  studies  of  the  military 
gentleman  from  Michigan  before  he  was  promoted.  I  take 
it  to  be  beyond  a  reasonable  doubt  that  he  had  perused  with 
great  care  the  title-page  of  Baron  Steuben.  Nay,  I  go 
further  ;  as  the  gentleman  has  incidentally  assured  us  that 
he  is  prone  to  look  into  musty  and  neglected  volumes,  I 
venture  to  assert,  without  vouching  in  the  least  from  per- 
sonal knowledge,  that  he  has  prosecuted  his  researches  so 
far  as  to  be  able  to  know  that  the  rear  rank  stands  right 
behind  the  front.  This,  I  think,  is  fairly  inferable  from 
what  I  understood  him  to  say  of  the  two  lines  of  encamp- 
ment at  Tippecanoe.  Thus  we  see,  Mr.  Speaker,  that  the 
gentleman  from  Michigan,  being  a  militia  general,  as  he  has 
told  us,  his  brother  officers,  in  that  simple  statement  has 
revealed  the  glorious  history  of  toils,  privations,  sacrifices, 
and  bloody  scenes,  through  which,  we  know  from  experience 


37O  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


and  observation,  a  militia  officer,  in  time  of  peace,  is  sure  to 
pass.  We  all  in  fancy  now  see  the  gentleman  from  Michi- 
gan in  that  most  dangerous  and  glorious  event  in  the  life  of 
a  militia  general  on  the  peace  establishment — a  parade  day! 
That  day,  for  which  all  the  other  days  of  his  life  seem  to 
have  been  made.  We  can  see  the  troops  in  motion — um- 
brellas, hoes,  and  axe-handles,  and  other  like  deadly  imple- 
ments of  war,  overshadowing  all  the  fields  when  lo  !  the 
leader  of  the  host  approaches  ! 

'  Far  off  his  coming  shines  ! ' 

His  plume  which,  after  the  fashion  of  the  great  Bour- 
bon, is  of  awful  length,  and  reads  its  doleful  history  in  the 
bereaved  necks  and  bosoms  of  forty  neighbouring  hen- 
roosts. Like  the  great  Suwaroff,  he  seems  somewhat  care- 
less in  forms  or  points  of  dress  ;  hence  his  epaulettes  may 
be  on  his  shoulders,  back,  or  sides,  but  still  gleaming,  glori- 
ously gleaming,  in  the  sun.  Mounted  he  is,  too,  let  it  not 
be  forgotten.  Need  I  describe  to  the  colonels  and  generals 
of  this  honourable  House  the  steed  which  heroes  bestride 
on  these  occasions  ?  No  !  I  see  the  memory  of  other  days 
is  with  you.  You  see  before  you  the  gentleman  from  Michi- 
gan, mounted  on  his  crop-eared,  bushy-tailed  mare,  the  sin- 
gular obliquity  of  whose  hinder  limbs  is  best  described  by 
that  most  expressive  phrase,  'sickle  hams' — for  height  just 
fourteen  hands,  '  all  told  '  ;  yes,  sir :  there  you  see  his 
*  steed  that  laughs  at  the  shaking  of  the  spear ' ;  that  is  his 
war  horse,  '  whose  neck  is  clothed  with  thunder.'  Mr. 
Speaker,  we  have  glowing  descriptions  in  history  of  Alexan- 
der the  Great  and  his  war  horse  Bucephalus,  at  the  head  of 
the  invincible  Macedonian  phalanx  ;  but,  sir,  such  are  the 
improvements  of  modern  times,  that  every  one  must  see 
that  our  militia  general,  with  his  crop-eared  mare  with  bushy 
tail  and  sickle  hams,  would  totally  frighten  off  a  battle-field 
a  hundred  Alexanders.  But,  sir,  to  the  history  of  the  parade 
day.  The  general,  thus  mounted  and  equipped,  is  in  the 
field  and  ready  for  action.  On  the  eve  of  some  desperate 
enterprise,  such  as  giving  order  to  shoulder  arms,  it  may  be, 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  A  ME  RICA .  371 


there  occurs  a  crisis,  one  of  those  accidents  of  war,  which 
no  sagacity  could  foresee  nor  prevent.  A  cloud  rises  and 
passes  over  the  sun  !  Here  is  an  occasion  for  the  display  of 
that  greatest  of  all  traits  in  the  history  of  a  commander — 
the  tact  which  enables  him  to  seize  upon  and  turn  to  good 
account  unlooked-for  events  as  they  arise.  Now  for  the 
caution  wherewith  the  Roman  Fabius  foiled  the  skill  and 
courage  of  Hannibal !  A  retreat  is  ordered,  and  troops  and 
general,  in  a  twinkling,  are  found  safely  bivouacked  in  a 
neighbouring  grocery.  But  even  here  the  general  still  has 
room  for  the  execution  of  heroic  deeds.  Hot  from  the  field, 
and  chafed  with  the  heroic  events  of  the  day,  your  general 
unsheathes  his  trenchant  blade,  eighteen  inches  in  length,  as 
you  will  remember,  and  with  energy  and  remorseless  fury 
he  slices  the  water-melons  that  lie  in  heaps  around  him,  and 
shares  them  with  his  surviving  friends.  Others  of  the  sinews 
of  war  are  not  wanting  here.  Whiskey,  Mr.  Speaker,  that 
great  leveller  of  modern  times,  is  here  also,  and  the  shells  of 
the  water-melons  are  filled  to  the  brim.  Here,  again,  Mr. 
Speaker,  is  shown  how  the  extremes  of  barbarism  and  civili- 
sation meet.  As  the  Scandinavian  heroes  of  old,  after  the 
fatigues  of  war,  drank  wine  from  the  skulls  of  their  slaugh- 
tered enemies  in  Odin's  halls,  so  now  our  militia  general  and 
his  forces,  from  the  skulls  of  the  melons  thus  vanquished,  in 
copious  draughts  of  whiskey  assuage  the  heroic  fire  of  their 
souls  after  a  parade  day.  But,  alas  for  this  short-lived  race 
of  ours !  all  things  will  have  an  end,  and  so  it  is  even  with 
the  glorious  achievements  of  our  general.  Time  is  on  the 
wing,  and  will  not  stay  his  flight ;  the  sun,  as  if  frightened 
at  the  mighty  events  of  the  day,  rides  down  the  sky,  and 
'  at  the  close  of  day,  when  the  hamlet  is  still/  the  curtain  of 
night  drops  upon  the  scene, 

'  And  Glory,  like  the  phoenix  in  its  fires, 
Exhales  its  odours,  blazes,  and  expires.'  ' 

Mr.  Corwin  was  not  an  office-seeker.  He  did  not  com- 
promise his  self-respect,  as  is  often  done  by  over-anxious 
candidates  for  public  positions.  He  had  aspirations,  it  is 


372  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


true,  but  they  were  of  the  loftiest  and  purest  kind.  He  was 
never  desirous  of  promoting  his  own  selfish  schemes  at  the 
public  expense.  His  knowledge  of  our  political  and  civil 
institutions  was  extensive  and  accurate,  and  he  was  animated 
with  the  sentiment  of  patriotism  that  would  administer  and 
maintain  them  in  their  true  strength  and  purity. 

As  an  orator,  Mr.  Corwin  was  pre-eminently  gifted  by 
nature,  and  his  elocutionary  powers  were  highly  cultivated. 
He  was  perfectly  self-possessed  in  manner,  and  always  spoke 
with  great  fluency.  His  language  was  pure  and  chaste.  He 
always  received  the  best  attention  from  his  audiences  and 
held  it  unbroken  to  the  end.  One  of  the  secrets  of  his 
power  was  that  he  knew  when  he  had  exhausted  a  subject, 
and  when  to  stop.  Unlike  the  great  English  orator,  Charles 
James  Fox,  he  rarely  repeated  his  arguments.  This  was 
due  to  the  clearness  of  his  conceptions,  and  his  exact  arrange- 
ment of  them — hence  he  rarely  offended,  as  many  of  our 
best  speakers  do,  by  occasional  indications  of  a  want  of 
thorough  understanding  of  their  own  minds. 

On  momentous  occasions  Mr.  Corwin  often  exhibited 
oratorical  powers  which  could  hardly  be  excelled. 

His  amiable  and  gentlemanly  temper  saved  him  from  the 
hazard  of  giving  personal  offence  to  the  victims  of  his  wit 
and  ridicule.  In  this  respect  he  was  fortunate,  for  his  quick 
perception  of  the  weak  points  in  an  opponent's  position,  and, 
if  open  to  ridicule,  his  ready  association  of  them  with  the 
most  grotesque  forms  of  exposure,  give  often,  even  to  his 
grave  speeches,  a  force  and  influence  which  the  severest  logic 
would  utterly  fail  to  give. 

Mr.  Corwin  allowed  no  doubt  in  his  auditory  of  the  sin- 
cerity of  what  he  said,  and  this  was  one  of  the  most  striking 
features  of  his  oratory. 

Prentiss. — Sergeant  S.  Prentiss  was  born  at  Portland, 
Maine,  on  the  3<Dth  day  of  September,  1808. 

Prentiss  was  always  fond  of  reading,  and  before  he  had 
reached  his  tenth  year  he  had  read  all  the  books  that  he 
could  "  lay  hands  on."  The  Bible  and  the  Pilgrim  s  Progress 
were  two  of  his  favourite  books  even  in  childhood. 


ORATORY  IN  AMERICA.  373 


He  entered  Bowdoin  College  in  1824.  At  college  his 
course  was  brilliant.  On  leaving  college  he  commenced  the 
study  of  law,  and  in  the  summer  of  1827  he  went  to  Natchez, 
Mississippi.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  June,  1829,  and 
soon  after  formed  a  partnership  with  General  Felix  Huston. 
His  first  appearance  at  the  bar  is  thus  described  by  one  of 
his  biographers :  "  He  was  a  slight-made,  beardless  boy,  ex- 
tremely youthful-looking,  by  no  means  physically  imposing, 
and  a  stranger  to  all  at  the  court.  It  was  a  case  he  was 
appearing  in  for  Mr.  Huston  ;  and  when  it  was  called  he 
responded  to  it,  and  stated  the  nature  of  the  case,  and  that 
it  stood  on  demurrer  to  some  part  of  the  proceedings  which 
he  desired  to  argue.  The  judge  with  some  nonchalance 
told  him  he  did  not  wish  to  hear  argument  on  the  subject, 
as  he  had  made  up  his  mind  adversely  to  the  side  Mr.  Pren- 
tiss  appeared  for ;  upon  this  Mr.  Prentiss  modestly,  but 
firmly,  insisted  on  his  client's  constitutional  right  to  be 
heard,  by  himself  or  counsel,  before  his  case  was  adjudged 
against  him.  His  right  was  recognised,  and  he  was  heard, 
and  made  a  speech  that  astonished  both  court  and  by- 
standers ;  and  the  judge,  to  his  honour  be  it  spoken,  was  not 
only  convinced  of  the  error  of  his  previous  opinion,  but  had 
the  manliness  to  acknowledge  it."  Few  young  men,  in  a 
strange  place,  with  a  cause  prejudged  and  the  decision 
announced,  would  have  so  boldly  asserted  and  maintained 
their  client's  rights. 

Mr.  Prentiss  appeared  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  in  1833,  and  made  a  speech  which  consumed 
three  or  four  hours.  His  propositions  were  so  well  fortified 
by  authorities,  and  his  speech  was  so  gracefully  delivered, 
that  he  instantly  attracted  the  attention  of  Chief  Justice 
Marshall,  and  called  forth  from  that  eminent  jurist  involun- 
tary praise. 

As  a  political  orator  Mr.  Prentiss  was  always  heard  with 
the  deepest  interest.  His  self-possession,  under  the  most 
trying  circumstances,  was  remarkable.  He  was  a  warm 
admirer  of  Henry  Clay,  and  an  active  opponent  of  General 
Jackson.  On  one  occasion  his  speech  was  a  powerful  in- 


374  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


vective  against  General  Jackson,  for  his  removal  of  the 
members  of  his  first  Cabinet.  While  he  was  summing  up 
the  excuses  of  the  Democratic  party  alleged  for  the  act,  he 
was  suddenly  confronted  by  a  fellow  holding  up  a  large  flag 
with  nothing  on  it  but  the  words  "  Hurrah  for  Jackson  !  " 
inscribed  with  large  letters.  The  man  advanced  slowly 
towards  the  speaker,  whose  eye  no  sooner  caught  the 
pennant  than  he  exclaimed,  without  the  slightest  perturba- 
tion— "  In  short,  fellow-citizens,  you  have  now  before  you 
the  sum  and  substance  of  all  the  arguments  of  the  party — 
Hurrah  for  Jackson  !  "  The  effect  was  electrical,  and  the 
poor  man  slunk  away  trailing  his  banner  after  him. 

In  1837,  Mr.  Prentiss  canvassed  his  State  and  was  elected 
to  Congress.  On  his  arrival  at  Washington  his  seat  was 
contested,  and  a  day  was  set  apart  for  him  to  address  the 
House  in  support  of  his  claims.  When  the  .appointed  time 
arrived,  "  nearly  all  the  members  were  in  their  seats,  the 
galleries  were  crowded,  and  every  eye  and  ear  were  fixed  in 
eager  expectation.  His  first  sentence  riveted  the  attention 
of  the  whole  audience,  and  each  succeeding  sentence  in- 
creased the  surprise  and  pleasure  awakened  by  the  first. 
Some,  anticipating  an  outburst  of  fervid  but  unpolished 
declamation,  were  charmed  to  find  themselves  listening  to 
an  orator,  whose  logic  was  as  accurate  and  subtle  as  that  of 
a  schoolman,  while  the  fairest  gems  of  literary  culture 
adorned  his  rhetoric.  Others,  expecting  a  violent  party 
harangue,  were  no  less  astonished  to  find  themselves  in  the 
presence  of  a  statesman  and  jurist  discussing,  with  patriotic 
zeal,  a  great  principle  of  constitutional  law.  His  peroration 
was  short,  but  it  thrilled  the  immense  assemblage  like  an 
electric  touch.  Much  of  its  force  was  owing  to  the  tones  of 
his  voice,  the  glow  of  his  eye  and  countenance,  his  peculiarly 
earnest  manner,  and  the  high-wrought  feelings  of  his  hearers  ; 
but  no  one  can  read  it  even  now  without  admiring  its  skill 
and  beauty." 

"  Nobody  could  equal  it,"  Mr.  Webster  briefly  remarked 
to  a  friend,  as  he  left  the  hall. 

Mr.  Prentiss  received  enthusiastic  congratulations  from 


ORATORY  IN  AMERICA.  375 


friends  and  political  foes  upon  the  conclusion  of  his  speech. 
President  Fillmore  was  a  member  of  the  House  when  the 
speech  was  delivered,  and  he  said  of  it  in  a  letter,  written  in 
1853  :  "I  can  never  forget  that  speech.  It  was,  certainly,  the 
most  brilliant  that  I  ever  heard,  and,  as  a  whole,  I  think  it 
fully  equalled,  if  it  did  not  exceed,  any  rhetorical  effort  to 
which  it  has  been  my  good  fortune  to  listen  in  either  House 
of  Congress.  It  elevated  him  at  once  to  the  front  rank  of 
Congressional  orators,  and  stamped  his  short  but  brilliant 
parliamentary  career  with  the  impression  of  undoubted 
genius  and  the  highest  oratorical  powers.  I  have  never 
read  the  published  speech,  but  I  apprehend  it  is  not  possi- 
ble that  it  should  convey  to  the  reader  any  adequate  idea 
of  the  effect  produced  by  its  delivery." 

When  the  vote  was  taken  on  the  question  of  his  right  to 
a  seat,  it  was  a  tie,  and  the  vote  of  the  Speaker,  James 
K.  Polk,  being  cast  against  him,  Mr.  Prentiss  returned  home, 
but  was  soon  after  elected  to  Congress  and  served  with  great 
credit  to  himself  his  term. 

Mr.  Prentiss  was  distinguished  as  a  lawyer  for  the  remark- 
able analytical  power  of  his  mind,  and  his  acute  and  discern- 
ing logical  faculty,  as  well  as  for  his  sound  learning,  his 
eloquence,  and  his  extraordinary  memory.  Although  his 
reading  was  full  and  general,  it  is  said  that  he  never  forgot, 
and  had  always  at  command  all  that  he  had  ever  read. 

As  an  extemporaneous  speaker  Mr.  Prentiss  has  had  few 
equals,  and  no  superiors. 

Mr.  Prentiss  removed  to  New  Orleans  in  1845.  The  fol- 
lowing address  was  delivered  by  him  before  the  New  Eng- 
land Society  of  New  Orleans,  on  the  22d  of  December, 
1845: 

Address  on  the  Landing  of  the  Pilgrims. 

"  This  is  a  day  dear  to  the  sons  of  New  England,  and  ever 
held  by  them  in  sacred  remembrance.  On  this  day,  from  every 
quarter  of  the  globe,  they  gather  in  spirit  around  the  rock 
of  Plymouth,  and  hang  upon  the  urns  of  their  Pilgrim 
Fathers  the  garlands  of  filial  gratitude  and  affection.  We 


3/6  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


have  assembled  for  the  purpose  of  participating  in  this  hon- 
ourable duty  ;  of  performing  this  pious  pilgrimage.  To-day 
we  will  visit  that  memorable  spot.  We  will  gaze  upon  the 
place  where  a  feeble  band  of  persecuted  exiles  founded  a 
mighty  nation  ;  and  our  hearts  will  exult  with  proud  grati- 
fication as  we  remember  that  on  that  barren  shore  our 
ancestors  planted  not  only  empire,  but  Freedom.  We  will 
meditate  upon  their  toils,  their  sufferings,  and  their  virtues, 
and  to  morrow  return  to  our  daily  avocations,  with  minds 
refreshed  and  improved  by  the  contemplation  of  their  high 
principles  and  noble  purposes. 

"  The  human  mind  cannot  be  contented  with  the  present. 
It  is  ever  journeying  through  the  trodden  regions  of  the 
past,  or  making  adventurous  excursions  into  the  mysterious 
realms  of  the  future.  He  who  lives  only  in  the  present  is 
but  a  brute,  and  has  not  attained  the  human  dignity.  Of 
the  future  but  little  is  known  ;  clouds  and  darkness  rest  upon 
it ;  we  yearn  to  become  acquainted  with  its  hidden  secrets ; 
we  stretch  out  our  arms  towards  its  shadowy  inhabitants; 
we  invoke  our  posterity,  but  they  answer  us  not.  We  wander 
in  its  dim  precincts  till  reason  becomes  confused  and  at  last 
start  back  in  fear,  like  mariners  who  have  entered  an  un- 
known ocean,  of  whose  winds,  tides,  currents,  and  quick- 
sands they  are  wholly  ignorant.  Then  it  is  we  turn  for 
relief  to  the  past,  that  mighty  reservoir  of  men  and  things* 
There  we  have  something  tangible  to  which  our  sympathies 
can  attach ;  upon  which  we  can  lean  for  support ;  from 
whence  we  can  gather  knowledge  and  learn  wisdom.  There 
we  are  introduced  into  Nature's  vast  laboratory  and  witness 
her  elemental  labours.  We  mark  with  interest  the  changes 
in  continents  and  oceans  by  which  she  has  notched  the  cen- 
turies. But  our  attention  is  still  more  deeply  aroused  by 
the  great  moral  events  which  have  controlled  the  fortunes 
of  those  who  have  preceded  us,  and  still  influence  our  own. 
With  curious  wonder  we  gaze  down  the  long  aisles  of  the 
past,  upon  the  generations  that  are  gone.  We  behold,  as  in 
a  magic  glass,  men  in  form  and  feature  like  ourselves,  actu- 
ated by  the  same  motives  urged  by  the  same  passions, 


ORATORY  IN,  AMERICA.  377 


busily  engaged  in  shaping  both  their  own  destinies  and  ours. 
We  approach  them  and  they  refuse  not  our  invocation.  We 
hold  converse  with  the  wise  philosophers,  the  sage  legisla- 
tors, and  the  divine  poets.  We  enter  the  tent  of  the  general, 
and  partake  of  his  most  secret  counsels.  We  go  forth  with 
him  to  the  battle-field,  and  behold  him  place  his  glittering 
squadrons  ;  then  we  listen  with  a  pleasing  fear  to  the  trumpet 
and  the  drum,  or  the  still  more  terrible  music  of  the  boom- 
ing cannon  and  the  clashing  arms.  But  most  of  all,  among 
the  innumerable  multitudes  who  peopled  the  past,  we  seek 
our  own  ancestors,  drawn  towards  them  by  an  irresistible 
sympathy.  Indeed,  they  were  our  other  selves.  With 
reverent  solicitude  we  examine  into  their  character  and 
actions,  and  as  we  find  them  worthy  or  unworthy,  our 
hearts  swell  with  pride,  or  our  cheeks  glow  with  shame.  We 
search  with  avidity  for  the  most  trivial  circumstances  in  their 
history,  and  eagerly  treasure  up  every  memento  of  their 
fortunes.  The  instincts  of  our  nature  bind  us  indissolubly 
to  them  and  link  our  fates  with  theirs.  Men  cannot  live 
without  a  past ;  it  is  as  essential  to  them  as  a  future.  Into 
its  vast  confines  we  still  journey  to-day,  and  converse  with 
our  Pilgrim  fathers.  We  will  speak  to  them  and  they 
shall  answer  us. 

"  Two  centuries  and  a  quarter  ago,  a  little  tempest-tost, 
weather-beaten  bark,  barely  escaped  from  the  jaws  of  the  wild 
Atlantic,  landed  upon  the  bleakest  shore  of  New  England. 
From  her  deck  disembarked  a  hundred  and  one  care-worn 
exiles.  To  the  casual  observer  no  event  could  seem  more 
insignificant.  The  contemptuous  eye  of  the  world  scarcely 
deigned  to  notice  it.  Yet  the  famous  vessel  that  bore 
Caesar  and  his  fortunes  carried  but  an  ignoble  freight  com- 
pared with  that  of  the  May/lower.  Her  little  band  of  Pil- 
grims brought  with  them  neither  wealth  nor  power,  but  the 
principles  of  civil  and  religious  freedom.  They  planted  them 
for  the  first  time  in  the  Western  Continent.  They  cherished, 
cultivated,  and  developed  them  to  a  full  and  luxuriant  matu- 
rity ;  and  then  furnished  them  to  their  posterity  as  the  only 
sure  and  permanent  foundations  for  a  free  government. 


378  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


Upon  those  foundations  rests  the  fabric  of  our  great  Re- 
public ;  upon  those  principles  depends  the  career  of  human 
liberty.  Little  did  the  miserable  pedant  and  bigot  who 
then  wielded  the  sceptre  of  Great  Britain  imagine  that  from 
this  feeble  settlement  of  persecuted  and  despised  Puritans, 
in  a  century  and  a  half,  would  arise  a  nation  capable  of 
coping  with  his  own  mighty  empire  in  arts  and  arms. 

"  It  is  not  my  purpose  to  enter  into  the  history  of  the  Pil- 
grims ;  to  recount  the  bitter  persecutions  and  ignominious 
sufferings  which  drove  them  from  England  ;  to  tell  of  the 
eleven  years  of  peace  and  quiet  spent  in  Holland,  under  their 
beloved  and  venerated  pastor ;  nor  to  describe  the  devoted 
patriotism  which  prompted  them  to  plant  a  colony  in  some 
distant  land,  where  they  could  remain  citizens  of  their  native 
country  and  at  the  same  time  be  removed  from  its  oppres- 
sions ;  where  they  could  enjoy  liberty  without  violating 
allegiance.  Neither  shall  I  speak  of  the  perils  of  their  ad- 
venturous voyage  ;  of  the  hardships  of  their  early  settlement ; 
of  the  famine  which  prostrated,  and  the  pestilence  which 
consumed  them. 

"  With  all  these  things  you  are  familiar,  both  from  the  page 
of  history  and  from  the  lips  of  tradition.  On  occasions  similar 
to  this,  the  ablest  and  most  honoured  sons  of  New  England 
have  been  accustomed  to  tell,  with  touching  eloquence,  the 
story  of  their  sufferings,  their  fortitude,  their  perseverance, 
and  their  success.  With  pious  care,  they  have  gathered  and 
preserved  the  scattered  memorials  of  those  early  days,  and 
the  names  of  Carver,  Bradford,  Winslow,  Standish,  and  their 
noble  companions  have  long  since  become  with  us  venerated 
household  words. 

"  There  were,  however,  some  traits  that  distinguished  the 
enterprise  of  the  Pilgrims  from  all  others  and  which  are  well 
worthy  of  continued  remembrance.  In  founding  their  colony 
they  sought  neither  wealth  nor  conquest,  but  only  peace  and 
freedom.  They  asked  but  for  a  region  where  they  could 
make  their  own  laws,  and  worship  God  according  to  the  dic- 
tates of  their  own  consciences.  From  the  moment  they 
touched  the  shore,  they  laboured  with  orderly,  systematic,  and 


ORATORY  IN  AMERICA.  3/9 


persevering  industry.  They  cultivated,  without  a  murmur, 
a  poor  and  ungrateful  soil,  which  even  now  yields  but  a 
stubborn  obedience  to  the  dominion  of  the  plough.  They 
made  no  search  for  gold,  nor  tortured  the  miserable  savages, 
to  wring  from  them  the  discovery  of  imaginary  mines. 
Though  landed  by  a  treacherous  pilot  upon  a  barren  and 
inhospitable  coast,  they  sought  neither  richer  fields  nor  a 
more  genial  climate.  They  found  liberty,  and  for  the  rest 
it  mattered  little.  For  more  than  eleven  years  they  had 
meditated  upon  their  enterprise,  and  it  was  no  small  matter 
could  turn  them  from  its  completion.  On  the  spot  where 
first  they  rested  from  their  wanderings,  with  stern  and  high 
resolve,  they  built  their  little  city  and  founded  their  young 
republic.  Their  honesty,  industry,  knowledge,  and  piety 
grew  up  together  in  happy  union.  There,  in  patriarchal 
simplicity  and  republican  equality,  the  Pilgrim  fathers  and 
mothers  passed  their  honourable  days,  leaving  to  their  pos- 
terity the  invaluable  legacy  of  their  principles  and  example. 

"  How  proudly  can  we  compare  their  conduct  with  that  of 
the  adventurers  of  other  nations  who  preceded  them.  How 
did  the  Spaniard  colonise  ?  Let  Mexico,  Peru,  and  Hispa- 
niola  answer.  He  followed  in  the  train  of  the  great  Dis- 
coverer, like  a  devouring  pestilence.  His  cry  was  gold! 
gold  !  !  gold  !  ! !  Never  in  the  history  of  the  world  had  the 
sacra  fames  auri  exhibited  itself  with  such  fearful  intensity. 
His  imagination  maddened  with  visions  of  sudden  boundless 
wealth,  clad  in  mail,  he  leaped  upon  the  New  World,  an 
armed  robber.  In  greedy  haste  he  grasped  the  sparkling 
sand,  then  cast  it  down  with  curses,  when  he  found  the 
glittering  grains  were  not  of  gold. 

"  Pitiless  as  the  bloodhound  by  his  side,  he  plunged  into 
the  primeval  forests,  crossed  rivers,  lakes,  and  mountains,  and 
penetrated  to  the  very  heart  of  the  continent.  No  region, 
however  rich  in  soil,  delicious  in  climate,  or  luxuriant  in  pro- 
duction, could  tempt  his  stay.  In  vain  the  soft  breeze  of 
the  tropics,  laden  with  aromatic  fragrance,  wooed  him  to 
rest ;  in  vain  the  smiling  valleys,  covered  with  spontaneous 
fruits  and  flowers,  invited  him  to  peaceful  quiet.  His  search 


380  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


was  still  for  gold  ;  the  accursed  hunger  could  not  be  ap- 
peased. The  simple  natives  gazed  upon  him  in  superstitious 
wonder,  and  worshipped  him  as  a  god  ;  and  he  proved  to 
them  a  god,  but  an  infernal  one — terrible,  cruel,  and  remorse- 
less. With  bloody  hands  he  tore  the  ornaments  from  their 
persons,  and  the  shrines  from  their  altars  ;  he  tortured  them 
to  discover  hidden  treasure,  and  slew  them  that  he  might 
search,  even  in  their  wretched  throats,  for  concealed  gold. 
Well  might  the  miserable  Indians  imagine  that  a  race  of  evil 
deities  had  come  among  them,  more  bloody  and  relentless 
than  those  who  presided  over  their  own  sanguinary  rites. 

"  Now  let  us  turn  to  the  Pilgrims.  They,  too,  were  tempted  ; 
and  had  they  yielded  to  the  temptation  how  different  might 
have  been  the  destinies  of  this  continent — how  different 
must  have  been  our  own  !  Previous  to  their  undertaking, 
the  Old  World  was  filled  with  strange  and  wonderful  ac- 
counts of  the  New.  The  unbounded  wealth,  drawn  by  the 
Spaniards  from  Mexico  and  South  America,  seemed  to  af- 
ford rational  support  for  the  wildest  assertions.  Each  suc- 
ceeding adventurer,  returning  from  his  voyage,  added  to  the 
Arabian  tales  a  still  more  extravagant  story.  At  length  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh,  the  most  accomplished  and  distinguished 
of  all  those  bold  voyageurs,  announced  to  the  world  his  dis- 
covery of  the  province  of  Guiana  and  its  magnificent  capital, 
the  far-famed  city  of  El  Dorado.  We  smile  now  at  his 
account  of  the  '  great  .and  golden,  city,'  and  '  the  mighty, 
rich,  and  beautiful  empire.'  We  can  hardly  imagine  that 
anyone  could  have  believed,  for  a  moment,  in  their  exist- 
ence. At  that  day,  however,  the  whole  matter  was  received 
with  the  most  implicit  faith.  Sir  Walter  professed  to  have 
explored  the  country,  and  thus  glowingly  describes  it  from 
his  own  observation  : 

"  '  I  never  saw  a  more  beautiful  country,  nor  more  lively 
prospects  ;  hills  so  raised  here  and  there  over  the  valleys — 
the  river  widening  into  divers  branches — the  plains  adjoin- 
ing, without  bush  or  stubble — all  fair  green  grass — the  deer 
crossing  in  every  path — the  birds,  towards  the  evening,  sing- 
ing on  every  tree  with  a  thousand  several  tunes — the  air 


ORATORY  IN  AMERICA.  381 


fresh,  with  a  gentle  easterly  wind  ;  and  every  stone  that  we 
stopped  to  take  up  promised  either  gold  or  silver  by  its  com- 
plexion. For  health,  good  air,  pleasure,  and  riches,  I  am 
resolved  it  cannot  be  equalled  by  any  region  either  in  the 
East  or  West.' 

"  The  Pilgrims  were  urged,  in  leaving  Holland,  to  seek  this 
charming  country,  and  plant  their  colony  among  its  Arcadian 
bowers.  Well  might  the  poor  wanderers  cast  a  longing  glance 
towards  its  happy  valleys,  which  seemed  to  invite  to  pious 
contemplation  and  peaceful  labour.  Well  might  the  green 
grass,  the  pleasant  groves,  the  tame  deer,  and  the  singing 
birds  allure  them  to  that  smiling  land  beneath  the  equinoc- 
tial line.  But  while  they  doubted  not  the  existence  of  this 
wondrous  region,  they  resisted  its  tempting  charms.  They 
had  resolved  to  vindicate,  at  the  same  time,  their  patriotism 
and  their  principles,  to  add  dominion  to  their  native  land, 
and  to  demonstrate  to  the  world  the  practicability  of  civil 
and  religious  liberty.  After  full  discussion  and  mature  de- 
liberation, they  determined  that  their  great  objects  could  be 
best  accomplished  by  a  settlement  on  some  portion  of  the 
northern  continent,  which  would  hold  out  no  temptation  to 
cupidity — no  inducement  to  persecution.  Putting  aside, 
then,  all  considerations  of  wealth  and  ease,  they  addressed 
themselves  with  high  resolution  to  the  accomplishment  of 
their  noble  purpose.  In  the  language  of  the  historian, 
'  Trusting  to  God  and  themselves,',  they  embarked  upon 
their  perilous  enterprise. 

"  As  I  said  before,  I  shall  not  accompany  them  on  their 
adventurous  voyage.  On  the  22d  day  of  December,  1620, 
according  to  our  present  computation,  their  footsteps  pressed 
the  famous  rock  which  has  ever  since  remained  sacred  to 
their  venerated  memory.  Poets,  painters,  and  orators  have 
tasked  their  powers  to  do  justice  to  this  great  scene.  Indeed, 
it  is  full  of  moral  grandeur ;  nothing  can  be  more  beautiful, 
more  pathetic,  or  more  sublime.  Behold  the  Pilgrims,  as 
they  stood  on  that  cold  December  day — stern  men,  gentle 
women,  and  feeble  children — all  uniting  in  singing  a  hymn 
of  cheerful  thanksgiving  to  the  good  God,  who  had  con- 


382  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


ducted  them  safely  across  the  mighty  deep,  and  permitted 
them  to  land  upon  that  sterile  shore.  See  how  their  up- 
turned faces  glow  with  a  pious  confidence  which  the  sharp 
winter  winds  cannot  chill,  nor  the  gloomy  forest  shadows 
darken. 

'  Not  as  the  conqueror  comes, 

They,  the  true-hearted  came  ; 
Not  with  the  roll  of  the  stirring  drum, 

Nor  the  trumpet,  that  sings  of  fame 
Nor  as  the  flying  come, 

In  silence  and  in  fear — 
They  shook  the  depths  of  the  desert  gloom 

With  their  hymns  of  lofty  cheer.' 

"  Noble  and  pious  band  !  your  holy  confidence  was  not  in 
vain,  your  *  hymns  of  lofty  cheer  '  find  echo  still  in  the 
hearts  of  grateful  millions.  Your  descendants,  when  pressed 
by  adversity,  or  when  addressing  themselves  to  some  high 
action,  turn  to  the  *  Landing  of  the  Pilgrims/  and  find  heart 
for  any  fate — strength  for, any  enterprise. 

"  How  simple,  yet  how  instructive,  are  the  annals  of  this 
little  settlement.  In  the  cabin  of  the  Mayflower  they  settled 
a  general  form  of  government,  upon  the  principles  of  a  pure 
democracy.  In  1636  they  published  a  declaration  of  rights 
and  established  a  body  of  laws.  The  first  fundamental 
article  was  in  these  words  :  '  That  no  act,  imposition,  law, 
or  ordinance  be  made,  or  imposed  upon  us,  at  present  or  to 
come,  but  such  as  has  been  or  shall  be  enacted  by  the  con- 
sent of  the  body  of  freemen  or  associates,  or  their  repre- 
sentatives legally  assembled/  etc. 

"  Here  we  find  advanced  the  whole  principle  of  the  Revolu- 
tion— the  whole  doctrine  of  our  republican  institutions. 
Our  fathers,  a  hundred  years  before  the  Revolution,  tested 
successfully,  as  far  as  they  were  concerned,  the  principle  of 
self-government,  and  solved  the  problem,  whether  law  and 
order  can  co-exist  with  liberty.  But  let  us  not  forget  that 
they  were  wise  and  good  men  who  made  the  noble  experi- 


ORATORY  7JV  AMERICA.  383 


ment,  and  that  it  may  yet  fail  in  our  hands,  unless  we  imitate 
their  patriotism  and  virtues. 

"  There  are  some  who  find  fault  with  the  character  of  the 
Pilgrims,  who  love  not  the  simplicity  of  their  manners,  nor 
the  austerity  of  their  lives.  They  were  men,  and  of  course 
imperfect  ;  but  the  world  may  well  be  challenged  to  point 
out,  in  the  whole  course  of  history,  men  of  purer  purpose  or 
braver  action — men  who  have  exercised  a  more  beneficial 
influence  upon  the  destinies  of  the  human  race,  or  left  be- 
hind them  more  enduring  memorials  of  their  existence. 

"  At  all  events,  it  is  not  for  the  sons  of  New  England  to 
search  for  the  faults  of  their  ancestors.  We  gaze  with  pro- 
found veneration  upon  their  awful  shades ;  we  feel  a  grate- 
ful pride  in  the  country  they  colonised — in  the  institutions 
they  founded — in  the  example  they  bequeathed.  We  exult 
in  our  birthplace  and  in  our  lineage. 

"  Who  would  not  rather  be  of  the  Pilgrim  stock  than  claim 
descent  from  the  proudest  Norman  that  every  planted  his 
robber  blood  in  the  halls  of  the  Saxon,  or  the  noblest  paladin 
that  quaffed  wine  at  the  table  of  Charlemagne  ?  Well  may 
we  be  proud  of  our  native  land,  and  turn  with  fond  affection 
to  its  rocky  shores.  The  spirit  of  the  Pilgrims  still  pervades 
it,  and  directs  its  fortunes.  Behold  the  thousand  temples  of 
the  Most  High,  that  nestle  in  its  happy  valleys  and  crown 
its  swelling  hills  !  See  how  their  glittering  spires  pierce  the 
blue  sky,  and  seem  like  so  many  celestial  conductors,  ready 
to  avert  the  lightning  of  an  angry  Heaven.  The  piety  of 
the  Pilgrim  patriarchs  is  not  yet  extinct,  nor  have  the  sons 
forgotten  the  God  of  their  fathers. 

"  Behold  yon  simple  building  near  the  crossing  of  the  village 
road  !  It  is  small  and  of  rude  construction,  but  stands  in  a 
pleasant  and  quiet  spot.  A  magnificent  old  elm  spreads  its 
broad  arms  above  and  seems  to  lean  towards  it,  as  a  strong 
man  bends  to  shelter  and  protect  a  child.  A  brook  runs 
through  the  meadow  near,  and  hard  by  there  is  an  orchard— 
but  the  trees  have  suffered  much  and  bear  no  fruit,  except 
upon  the  most  remote  and  inaccessible  branches.  From 
within  its  walls  comes  a  busy  hum,  such  as  you  may  hear  in 


384  HISTORY   OF   ORATORY. 


a  disturbed  bee-hive.  Now  peep  through  yonder  window 
and  you  will  see  a  hundred  children,  with  rosy  cheeks,  mis- 
chievous eyes,  and  demure  faces,  all  engaged,  or  pretending 
to  be  so,  in  their  little  lessons.  It  is  the  public  school — the 
free,  the  common  school — provided  by  law  ;  open  to  all  ; 
claimed  from  the  community  as  a  right,  not  accepted  as  a 
bounty.  Here  the  children  of  the  rich  and  poor,  high  and 
low,  meet  upon  perfect  equality,  and  commence  under  the 
same  auspices  the  race  of  life.  Here  the  sustenance  of  the 
mind  is  served  up  to  all  alike,  as  the  Spartans  served  their 
food  upon  the  public  table.  Here  young  Ambition  climbs 
his  little  ladder,  and  boyish  Genius  plumes  his  half-fledged 
wing.  From  among  these  laughing  children  will  go  forth 
the  men  who  are  to  control  the  destinies  of  their  age  and 
country — the  statesman  whose  wisdom  is  to  guide  the  Senate 
— the  poet  who  will  take  captive  the  hearts  of  the  people 
and  bind  them  together  with  immortal  song — the  philoso- 
pher who,  boldly  seizing  upon  the  elements  themselves, 
will  compel  them  to  his  wishes,  and,  through  new  combina- 
tions of  their  primal  laws,  by  some  great  discovery,  revolu- 
tionise both  art  and  science. 

"  The  common  village  school  is  New  England's  fairest  boast 
— the  brightest  jewel  that  adorns  her  brow.  The  principle 
that  society  is  bound  to  provide  for  its  members'  education 
as  well  as  protection,  so  that  none  need  be  ignorant  except 
from  choice,  is  the  most  important  that  belongs  to  modern 
philosophy.  It  is  essential  to  a  republican  government. 
Universal  education  is  not  only  the  best  and  surest,  but  the 
Only  sure  foundation  for  free  institutions.  True  liberty  is 
the  child  of  knowledge  ;  she  pines  away  and  dies  in  the 
arms  of  ignorance. 

"  Honour,  then,  to  the  early  fathers  of  New  England,  from 
whom  came  the  spirit  which  has  built  a  schoolhouse  by 
every  sparkling  fountain,  and  bids  all  come  as  freely  to  the 
one  as  to  the  other.  All  honour,  too,  to  this  noble  city,  who 
has  not  disdained  to  follow  the  example  of  her  northern 
sisters,  but  has  wisely  determined  that  the  intellectual 
thirst  of  her  children  deserves  as  much  attention  as  their 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  A  M ERICA .  385 


physical,  and  that  it  is  as  much  her  duty  to  provide  the 
means  of  assuaging  the  one  as  of  quenching  the  other. 

"  But  the  spirit  of  the  Pilgrims  survives,  not  only  in  the 
knowledge  and  piety  of  their  sons,  but,  most  of  all,  in  their 
indefatigable  enterprise  and  indomitable  perseverance. 

"  They  have  wrestled  with  nature  till  they  have  prevailed 
against  her,  and  compelled  her  reluctantly  to  reverse  her 
own  laws.  The  sterile  soil  has  become  productive  under 
their  sagacious  culture,  and  the  barren  rock,  astonished,  finds 
itself  covered  with  luxuriant  and  unaccustomed  verdure. 

"  Upon  the  banks  of  every  river  they  build  temples  to 
industry,  and  stop  the  squanderings  of  the  spendthrift 
waters.  They  bind  the  naiads  of  the  brawling  stream. 
They  drive  the  dryads  from  their  accustomed  haunts,  and 
force  them  to  desert  each  favourite  grove;  for  upon  river, 
creek,  and  bay  they  are  busy  transforming  the  crude  forest 
into  staunch  and  gallant  vessels.  From  every  inlet  or  in- 
denture along  the  rocky  shore  swim  forth  these  ocean  birds 
—born  in  the  wildwood,  fledged  upon  the  wave.  Behold 
how  they  spread  their  white  pinions  to  the  favouring  breeze, 
and  wind  their  flight  to  every  quarter  of  the  globe — the 
carrier  pigeons  of  the  world  !  It  is  upon  the  unstable  ele- 
ment the  sons  of  New  England  have  achieved  their  greatest 
triumphs.  Their  adventurous  prows  vex  the  waters  of 
-every  sea.  Bold  and  restless  as  the  old  northern  Vikings, 
they  go  forth  to  seek  their  fortunes  in  the  mighty  deep. 
The  ocean  is  their  pasture,  and  over  its 'wide  prairies  they 
follow  the  monstrous  herds  that  feed  upon  its  azure  fields. 
As  the  hunter  casts  his  lasso  upon  the  wild  horse,  so  they 
throw  their  lines  upon  the  tumbling  whale.  They  *  draw  out 
Leviathan  with  a  hook.'  They  *  fill  his  skin  with  barbed 
irons,'  and  in  spite  of  his  terrible  strength  they  '  part  him 
among  the  merchants.'  To  them  there  are  no  pillars  of 
Hercules.  They  seek  with  avidity  new  regions,  and  fear 
not  to  be  '  the  first  that  ever  burst '  into  unknown  seas. 
Had  they  been  the  companions  of  Columbus,  the  great 
mariner  would  not  have  been  urged  to  return,  though  he 
had  sailed  westward  to  his  dying  day. 


386  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


"  Glorious  New  England  !  thou  art  still  true  to  thy  ancient 
fame  and  worthy  of  thy  ancestral  honours.  We,  thy  chil- 
dren, have  assembled  in  this  far-distant  land  to  celebrate  thy 
birthday.  A  thousand  fond  associations  throng  upon  us, 
roused  by  the  spirit  of  the  hour.  On  thy  pleasant  valleys 
rest,  like  sweet  dews  of  morning,  the  gentle  recollections  of 
our  early  life ;  around  thy  hills  and  mountains  cling,  like 
gathering  mists,  the  mighty  memories  of  the  Revolution  ; 
and  far  away  in  the  horizon-  of  thy  past  gleam,  like  thine 
own  Northern  Lights,  the  awful  virtues  of  our  Pilgrim 
sires !  But  while  we  devote  this  day  to  the  remembrance 
of  our  native  land,  we  forget  not  that  in  which  our  happy  lot 
is  cast.  We  exult  in  the  reflection  that,  though  we  count  by 
thousands  the  miles  which  separate  us  from  our  birthplace, 
still  our  country  is  the  same.  We  are  no  exiles  meeting 
upon  the  banks  of  a  foreign  river,  to  swell  its  waters  with 
our  home-sick  tears.  Here  floats  the  same  banner  which 
rustled  above  our  boyish  heads,  except  that  its  mighty 
folds  are  wider  and  its  glittering  stars  increased  in  number. 

"  The  sons  of  New  England  are  found  in  every  State  of  the 
broad  Republic.  In  the  East,  the  South,  and  the  unbounded 
West,  their  blood  mingles  freely  with  every  kindred  current. 
We  have  but  changed  our  chamber  in  the  paternal  mansion  ; 
in  all  its  rooms  we  are  at  home,  and  all  who  inhabit  it  are 
our  brothers.  To  us  the  Union  has  but  one  domestic 
hearth  ;  its  household  gods  are  all  the  same.  Upon  us, 
then,  peculiarly  devolves  the  duty  of  feeding  the  fires  upon 
that  kindly  hearth  ;  of  guarding  with  pious  care  those  sacred 
household  gods. 

"  We  cannot  do  with  less  than  the  whole  Union  ;  to  us  it 
admits  of  no  division.  In  the  veins  of  our  children  flows 
Northern  and  Southern  blood ;  how  shall  it  be  separated ; 
who  shall  put  asunder  the  best  affections  of  the  heart,  the 
noblest  instincts  of  our  nature  ?  We  love  the  land  of  our 
adoption,  so  do  we  that  of  our  birth.  Let  us  ever  be  true 
to  both  ;  and  always  exert  ourselves  in  maintaining  the 
unity  of  our  country,  the  integrity  of  the  Republic. 

"  Accursed,  then,  be  the  hand  put  forth  to  loosen  the  golden 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN-  AMERICA.  387 


cord  of  Union  ;  thrice  accursed  the  traitorous  lips,  whether 
of  Northern  fanatic  or  Southern  demagogue,  which  shall 
propose  its  severance!  But,  no,  the  Union  cannot  be  dis- 
solved ;  its  fortunes  are  too  brilliant  to  be  marred ;  its  des- 
tinies too  powerful  to  be  resisted.  Here  will  be  their  great- 
est triumph,  their  most  mighty  development.  And  when, 
a  century  hence,  this  Crescent  City  shall  have  filled  her 
golden  horns,  when  within  her  broad-armed  port  shall  be 
gathered  the  products  of  the  industry  of  a  hundred  millions 
of  freemen,  when  galleries  of  art  and  halls  of  learning  shail 
have  made  classic  this  mart  of  trade,  then  may  the  sons  of 
the  Pilgrims,  still  wandering  from  the  bleak  hills  of  the 
North,  stand  upon  the  banks  of  the  Great  River,  and  ex- 
claim with  mingled  pride  and  wonder :  *  Lo !  this  is  our 
country  ;  when  did  the  world  ever  witness  so  rich  and  mag- 
nificent a  city — so  great  and  glorious  a  Republic  ! '  ' 

Webster. — Daniel  Webster  was  one  of  the  greatest  polit- 
icakand  forensic  orators  that  ever  lived  in  any  age  or  coun- 
try. He  was  born  in  the  town  of  Salisbury,  New  Hampshire, 
on  the  1 8th  of  January,  1782,  the  last  year  of  the  revolution- 
ary war.  He  came  of  a  patriotic  ancestry.  Ebenezer  Web- 
ster, his  father,  was  a  captain  in  that  war.  He  participated 
in  the  battle  of  White  Plains,  and  was  in  the  thickest  of  the 
fight  at  Bennington.  He  was  elected  a  representative  from 
Salisbury  to  the  Legislature  of  New  Hampshire,  and  was 
afterward  State  Senator,  and  was  finally  chosen  as  a  judge 
of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas.  He  died  in  1806,  at  the  age 
of  sixty-seven.  Ebenezer  Webster  was  married  twice.  His 
second  wife,  the  mother  of  Daniel  Webster,  was  a  woman  of 
remarkably  great  mental  endowments. 

Daniel  Webster  was  reared  amidst  the  rugged,  majestic 
scenery  of  New  Hampshire.  It  is  the  opinion  of  some  writers 
that  scenery  which  is  grand  and  sublime  contributes  to  the 
formation  of  character — intellectual  and  moral;  and  it  has 
been  said  that  nearly  all  the  heroism,  moral  excellence,  and 
ennobling  literature  of  the  world  has  been  produced  by  those 
who,  in  infancy  and  in  youth,  were  fostered  by  the  inspira- 
tion of  exalted  regions,  where  the  turf  is  covered  with  a  rude 


388  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


beauty,  rocks  and  wilderness  are  piled  in  bold  and  inimitable 
shapes  of  savage  grandeur,  tinged  with  the  hues  of  untold 
centuries,  and  over  which  awe-inspiring  storms  often  sweep 
with  thunders  in  their  train.  This  is  the  influence  which 
more  than  half  created  the  Shakespeares,  Miltons,  Spensers, 
Wordsworths,  Scotts,  Coleridges,  Shelleys,  Irvings,  Coopers, 
Bryants,  and  Websters  of  the  world.  An  eloquent  speaker 
said  of  him  :  "  Born  upon  the  verge  of  civilisation, — his  fath- 
er's house  the  farthest  by  four  miles  on  the  Indian  trail  to 
Canada, — Mr.  Webster  retained  to  the  last  his  love  for  that 
pure  fresh  nature  in  which  he  was  cradled.  The  dashing 
streams,  which  conduct  the  waters  of  the  queen  of  New 
Hampshire's  lakes  to  the  noble  Merrimac;  the  superb  group 
of  mountains  (the  Switzerland  of  the  United  States),  among 
which  those  waters  have  their  sources ;  the  primeval  forest, 
whose  date  runs  back  to  the  twelfth  verse  of  the  first  chapter 
of  Genesis,  and  never  since  creation  yielded  to  the  settler's  axe  ; 
the  gray  buttresses  of  granite  which  prop  the  eternal  hills  ;  the 
sacred  alternation  of  the  seasons,  with  its  magic  play  on  field 
and  forest  and  flood  ;  the  gleaming  surface  of  lake  and  stream 
in  summer ;  the  icy  pavement  with  which  they  are  floored  in 
winter ;  the  verdure  of  spring,  the  prismatic  tints  of  the 
autumnal  woods,  the  leafless  branches  of  December,  glitter- 
ing like  arches  and  corridors  of  silver  and  crystal  in  the  en- 
chanted palaces  of  fairy-land — sparkling  in  the  morning  sun 
with  winter's  jewelry,  diamond  and  amethyst,  and  ruby  and 
sapphire  ;  the  cathedral  aisles  of  pathless  woods — the  mourn- 
ful hemlock,  the  '  cloud-seeking '  pine, — hung  with  drooping 
creepers,  like  funeral  banners  pendant  from  the  roof  of  chan- 
cel or  transept  over  the  graves  of  the  old  lords  of  the  soil ; 
—these  all  retained  for  him  to  the  close  of  his  life  an  un- 
dying charm." 

As  an  agricultural  labourer  Daniel  Webster,  in  his  youth 
at  least,  was  not  greatly  distinguished,  except  for  inef- 
ficiency, and  he  said  on  one  occasion  that  his  father  sent  him 
to  college  to  make  him  equal  to  the  other  children.  At  one 
time,  Daniel  was  put  to  mowing,  but  he  made  bad  work  of 
it.  His  scythe  was  sometimes  in  the  ground,  and  sometimes 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  AMERICA.  389 


over  the  tops  of  all  the  grass.  He  complained  to  his  father 
that  his  scythe  was  not  hung  right.  Various  attempts  were 
made  to  hang  it  better,  but  with  no  success.  His  father  told 
him,  at  length,  he  might  hang  it  to  suit  himself,  and  he 
therefore  hung  it  upon  a  tree,  and  said,  "  There,  that 's 
right."  His  father  laughed,  and  told  him  to  let  it  hang 
there. 

When  he  reached  his  fourteenth  year,  Webster  was  taken 
by  his  father,  whom  he  always  so  tenderly  loved,  to  the 
Phillips  Academy,  Exeter,  and  placed  under  the  care  of 
the  good  Dr.  Benjamin  Abbott. 

Webster  mastered  in  a  short  time  the  principles  of  English 
grammar,  and  made  some  progress  with  his  other  studies. 

Diffident  speakers  should  note  the  fact  that  early  in  life 
Webster  had  the  strongest  antipathy  to  public  declamation, 
and  when  he  first  declaimed  at  school  he  became  greatly 
embarrassed,  and  even  burst  into  tears. 

Mr.  Webster  was  graduated  at  Dartmouth  College  in 
August,  1801.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1805. 

When  he  was  thirty  years  of  age,  he  was  elected  to  Con- 
gress, and  took  his  seat  at  the  extra  session  in  May,  1813. 
In  the  following  June  of  the  same  year,  he  made  his  first 
speech  in  Congress  on  the  Berlin  and  Milan  decrees.  This 
speech  placed  Webster  at  once  in  the  front  rank  of  parlia- 
mentary orators.  Chief  Justice  Marshall,  and  many  other 
eminent  vmen  who  heard  it,  were  greatly  pleased  with  it,  and 
the  learned  Chief  Justice  predicted  that  he  would  become 
one  of  the  "  very  first  statesmen  in  America,  and  perhaps 
the  first  "  ;  and  the  celebrated  Mr.  Lowndes  remarked  that 
the  North  had  not  his  equal,  nor  the  South  his  superior. 

In  a  letter  dated  June  24,  1839,  Thomas  Carlyle  writes 
to  his  friend  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  as  follows,  of  Web- 
ster :  " .  .  .  Not  many  days  ago  I  saw  at  breakfast 
the  notablest  of  all  your  Notabilities,  Daniel  Webster.  He 
is  a  magnificent  specimen  ;  you  might  say  to  all  the  world : 
This  is  your  Yankee  Englishman,  such  limbs  we  make  in 
Yankeeland  !  As  a  logic-fencer,  Advocate,  or  Parliamentary 
Hercules,  one  would  incline  to  back  him  at  first  sight  against 


3QO  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


the  extant  world.  The  tanned  complexion,  that  amorphous 
crag-like  face  ;  the  dull  black  eyes  under  the  precipice  of 
brows,  like  dull  anthracite  furnaces,  needing  only  to  be 
blown  ;  the  mastiff-mouth,  accurately  closed  : — I  have  not 
traced  as  much  of  silent  Berserkir-rage,  that  I  remember  of, 
in  any  other  man.  '  I  guess  I  should  not  like  to  be  your 
nigger ! '  Webster  is  not  loquacious,  but  he  is  pertinent, 
conclusive ;  a  dignified,  perfectly  bred  man,  though  not 
English  in  breeding  :  a  man  worthy  of  the  best  reception 
from  us ;  and  meeting  such,  I  understand.  He  did  not 
speak  much  with  me  that  morning,  but  seemed  not  at  all  to 
dislike  me.  .  .  ." 

The  following  graphic  and  interesting  description  of  Web- 
ster was  written  by  Miss  Mary  Russell  Mitford  to  one  of  her 
friends  in  1839: 

"  Daniel  Webster  is  himself  not  more  than  fifty-five  now — 
the  first  lawyer,  orator,  and  statesman  of  America,  certainly, 
and  the  next,  or  next  but  one,  President.  He  is  the  noblest- 
looking  man  I  ever  saw,  both  in  face  and  person.  The  por- 
trait prefixed  to  his  Speeches  does  him  great  injustice,  for 
his  countenance  is  delightfully  gracious — such  a  smile  !  and 
he  is  a  broad,  muscular,  splendid  figure.  His  manner,  too, 
is  all  that  one  can  imagine  of  calm,  and  sweet,  and  gracious 
— as  charming  as  the  Duke  of  Devonshire;  as  courteous 
even  as  that  prince  of  courtesy,  and  equally  free  from  conde- 
scension— whilst  amidst  the  perfect  simplicity  and  gentle- 
ness there  is  great  conversational  power.  His  wife  and 
daughters  seem  to  adore  his  very  footsteps ;  and  he  has 
conquered  for  himself  a  degree  of  real  consideration  and 
respect  in  London  never  shown  before  to  any  transatlantic 
personage  ;  least  of  all  to  a  lion.  My  father  adores  him.  I 
think  he  liked  him  even  better  than  I  did  ;  and  he  says  that 
he  promised  him  to  come  again,  and  that  he  is  sure  to  keep 
his  word. 

"  I  should  like  you  to  see  Daniel  Webster !  When  I  tell 
you  that  expecting  from  him  what  I  did,  and  hearing  from 
twenty  people,  accustomed  to  see  in  perfect  intimacy  all 
distinguished  people,  that  he  alone  gave  them  the  idea  of  a 


ORATORY  IN  AMERICA.  39! 


truly  great  man — when  I  say  that  he  exceeded  our  expecta- 
tions by  very  far,  you  may  imagine  what  he  is.  I  am  to 
send  them  all  my  flower-seeds,  and  they  are  to  send  me  all 
theirs.  I  chose  the  Murder-Speech  (is  it  not  wonderfully 
fine?  like  Sheil,  without  the  tawdriness,  I  think,)  to  read  to 
my  father,  because  that  is  free  from  the  alloy,  to  an  English 
ear,  of  allusions  intelligible  across  the  water,  but  not  to  us. 
Two  very  clever  friends  of  ours  went  to  Oxford  to  hear  him 
speak,  and  they  say  that  they  would  walk  there  again  and 
back,  to  hear  him  only  speak  the  same  speech  over  again  ! 
Is  not  that  praise  ?  " 

His  speech  in  the  Dartmouth  College  case  established  his 
reputation  as  a  lawyer  upon  a  firm  basis.  It  was  one  of  the 
finest  forensic  efforts  on  record.  The  profound  legal  know- 
ledge and  the  overpowering  eloquence  he  displayed  on  that 
occasion  placed  him  in  the  front  rank  of  jurists  and  forensic 
orators.  It  is  said  that  its  effects  upon  the  audience  were 
prodigious,  and  that  the  concluding  remarks  of  his  argu- 
ment were  uttered  in  tones  of  the  deepest  pathos  which 
thrilled  his  hearers.  When  he  ceased  to  speak  there  was  a 
death-like  stillness  throughout  the  court-room  which  lasted 
for  some  moments.  The  dignified  Chief  Justice  Marshall  was 
overcome  by  this  manly  burst  of  eloquence — his  furrowed 
cheeks  trembled  with  emotion,  and  his  eyes  were  suffused 
with  tears.  Said  Rufus  Choate  :  "  Well,  as  if  of  yesterday, 
I  remember  how  it  was  written  home  from  Washington,  that 
*  Mr.  Webster  closed  a  legal  argument  of  great  power  by  a 
peroration  which  charmed  and  melted  his  audience.'  ' 

One  of  Mr.  Webster's  most  eloquent  speeches  in  Congress 
was  that  which  he  made  on  the  Revolution  in  Greece.  The 
exordium  contains  a  striking  and  happy  allusion  to  Greece 
as  the  mistress  of  the  world  in  the  arts  and  sciences.  The 
author  will  give  this  passage  : 

"  I  am  afraid,  Mr.  Chairman,  that,  so  far  as  my  part  in  this 
discussion  is  concerned,  those  expectations  which  the  public 
excitement  existing  on  the  subject,  and  certain  associations 
easily  suggested  by  it,  have  conspired  to  raise,  may  be  dis- 
appointed. An  occasion  which  calls  the  attention  to  a  spot 


392  HISTORY   OF  ORATORY. 


so  distinguished,  so  connected  with  interesting  recollections,, 
as  Greece,  may  naturally  create  something  of  warmth  and 
enthusiasm.  In  a  grave  political  discussion,  however,  it  is 
necessary  that  those  feelings  should  be  chastised.  I  shall 
endeavour  properly  to  repress  them,  although  it  is-  impossi- 
ble that  they  should  be  altogether  extinguished.  We  must, 
indeed,  fly  beyond  the  civilised  world  ;  we  must  pass  the  do- 
minion of  law  and  the  boundary  of  knowledge  ;  we  must, 
more  especially,  withdraw  ourselves  from  this  place,  and  the 
scenes  and  objects  which  here  surround  us, — if  we  would 
separate  ourselves  entirely  from  the  influence  of  all  those 
memorials  of  herself  which  ancient  Greece  has  transmitted 
for  the  admiration  and  the  benefit  of  mankind.  This  free 
form  of  government,  this  popular  assembly,  the  common 
council  held  for  the  common  good — where  have  we  contem- 
plated its  earliest  models  ?  This  practice  of  free  debate  and 
public  discussion,  the  contest  of  mind  with  mind,  and  that 
popular  eloquence  which,  if  it  were  now  here,  on  a  subject 
like  this,  would  move  the  stones  of  the  Capitol, — whose  was 
the  language  in  which  all  these  were  first  exhibited  ?  Even 
the  edifice  in  which  we  assemble,  these  proportioned  columns, 
this  ornamental  architecture,  all  remind  us  that  Greece  has 
existed,  and  that  we,  like  the  rest  of  mankind,  are  greatly 
her  debtors." 

In  this  speech  of  Mr.  Webster  occurs  one  of  the  finest 
passages  in  the  English  language  on  the  power  of  public 
opinion  over  mere  physical  force.  He  was  asked  what  kind 
of  aid  this  country  should  give  Greece,  whether  we  should 
declare  war  on  her  account,  or  furnish  her  armies  and  navies. 
He  replied  in  the  following  eloquent  language  : 

"  Sir,  this  reasoning  mistakes  the  age.  The  time  has  been, 
indeed,  when  fleets,  and  armies,  and  subsidies  were  the  prin- 
cipal reliances  even  in  the  best  cause.  But,  happily  for  man- 
kind, there  has  arrived  a  great  change  in  this  respect.  Moral 
causes  come  into  consideration,  in  proportion  as  the  progress 
of  knowledge  is  advanced  ;  and  the  public  opinion  of  the 
civilised  world  is  rapidly  gaining  an  ascendancy  over  mere 
brutal  force.  It  may  be  silenced  by  military  power,  but  it 


OKA  TOR  Y  IN  AMERICA.  393 


cannot  be  conquered.  It  is  elastic,  irrepressible,  and  invul- 
nerable to  the  weapons  of  ordinary  warfare.  It  is  that 
impassable,  inextinguishable  enemy  of  mere  violence  and 
arbitrary  rule,  which,  like  Milton's  angels, 

'  Vital  in  every  part,     .     .     . 
Can  not,  but  by  annihilating,  die.' 

"  Unless  this  be  propitiated  or  satisfied,  it  is  in  vain  for 
power  to  talk  either  of  triumph  or  repose.  No  matter 
what  fields  are  desolated,  what  fortresses  surrendered,  what 
armies  subdued,  or  what  provinces  overrun,  there  is  an  enemy 
that  still  exists  to  check  the  glory  of  these  triumphs.  It 
follows  the  conqueror  back  to  the  very  scene  of  his  ovations  ; 
it  calls  upon  him  to  take  notice  that  the  world,  though  silent, 
is  yet  indignant ;  it  shows  him  that  the  sceptre  of  his  victory 
is  a  barren  sceptre ;  that  it  shall  convey  neither  joy  nor  honour, 
but  shall  moulder  to  dry  ashes  in  his  grasp.  In  the  midst  of 
his  exultation,  it  pierces  his  ear  with  the  cry  of  injured  jus- 
tice ;  it  denounces  against  him  the  indignation  of  an  enlight- 
ened and  civilised  age  ;  it  turns  to  bitterness  the  cup  of  his 
rejoicing ;  and  wounds  him  with  the  sting  which  belongs  to 
the  consciousness  of  having  outraged  the  opinion  of  man- 
kind." 

Mr.  Webster  was  called  upon  to  deliver  an  address  at  the 
laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  the  Bunker  Hill  Monument  on 
the  i;th  day  of  June,  1825 — the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the 
battle.  It  is  said  that  on  this  occasion  Mr.  Webster  thrilled 
the  hearts  of  his  immense  audience  by  a  strain  of  eloquence 
as  lofty  and  majestic  as  ever  flowed  from  the  lips  of  an 
orator.  The  following  passage,  the  writer  thinks,  is  particu- 
larly worthy  of  quotation  : 

"  We  come,  as  Americans,  to  mark  a  spot  which  must 
forever  be  dear  to  us  and  to  our  posterity.  We  wish  that 
whoso'ever,  in  all  coming  time,  shall  turn  his  eye  hither,  may 
behold  that  the  place  is  not  undistinguished  where  the  first 
great  battle  of  the  Revolution  was  fought.  We  wish  that 
this  structure  may  proclaim  the  magnitude  and  importance 


394  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


of  that  event  to  every  class  and  every  age.  We  wish  that 
infancy  may  learn  the  purpose  of  its  erection  from  maternal 
lips,  and  that  weary  and  withered  age  may  behold  it,  and  be 
solaced  by  the  recollections  which  it  suggests.  We  wish 
that  labour  may  look  up  here,  and  be  proud,  in  the  midst  of 
its  toil.  We  wish  that  in  those  days  of  disaster,  which,  as 
they  come  upon  all  nations,  must  be  expected  to  come  upon 
us  also,  desponding  patriotism  may  turn  its  eyes  hitherward 
and  be  assured  that  the  foundations  of  our  national  power 
are  still  strong.  We  wish  that  this  column,  rising  towards 
heaven  among  the  pointed  spires  of  so  many  temples  dedi- 
cated to  God,  may  contribute  also  to  produce,  in  all  minds, 
a  pious  feeling  of  dependence  and  gratitude.  We  wish, 
finally,  that  the  last  object  to  the  sight  of  him  who  leaves 
his  native  shore,  and  the  first  to  gladden  his  who  revisits  it, 
maybe  something  which  shall  remind  him  of  the  liberty  and 
glory  of  his  country.  Let  it  rise  !  let  it  rise  !  till  it  meet  the 
sun  in  his  coming  !  let  the  earliest  light  of  the  morning  gild  it, 
and  parting  day  linger  and  play  on  its  summit." 

What  can  be  more  eloquent  than  the  following  passage 
proclaiming  the  immortality  of  Adams  and  Jefferson,  taken 
from  the  funeral  discourse,  the  most  eloquent  ever  pro- 
nounced in  any  language  or  in  any  country,  upon  those 
distinguished  patriots,  delivered  in  Faneuil  Hall  on  the 
2d  day  of  August,  1826,  in  the  presence  of  an  immense 
audience : 

"  Although  no  sculptured  marble  should  rise  to  their 
memory,  nor  engraved  stone  bear  record  of  their  deeds,  yet 
will  their  remembrance  be  as  lasting  as  the  land  they  hon- 
oured. Marble  columns  may,  indeed,  moulder  into  dust, 
time  may  erase  all  impress  from  the  crumbling  stone,  but 
their  fame  remains,  for  with  American  liberty  it  rose,  and 
with  American  liberty  only  can  it  perish.  It  was  the  last 
swelling  peal  of  yonder  choir,  *  Their  bodies  are  buried  in 
peace,  but  their  name  liveth  evermore'  I  catch  that  solemn 
song,  I  echo  that  lofty  strain  of  funeral  triumph  '  Their  name 
liveth  evermore.' ' 

One  of  the  greatest  subjects  which  enlisted  the  attention 


ORA  TOR  Y  IN  AMERICA.  395 


of  Mr.  Webster  was  the  Bank  question.  President  Jackson, 
on  the  1 8th  day  of  September,  1833,  ordered  the  removal  of 
the  public  deposits  from  the  Bank  of  the  United  States. 
The  business  of  the  country  suffered  greatly  by  this  step. 
About  two  months  after  this  removal  had  taken  place,  Con- 
gress met,  and  Mr.  Clay  introduced  a  resolution,  which 
passed  the  Senate  (March  28,  1834),  censuring  the  President 
for  assuming  power  not  warranted  by  the  Constitution. 
General  Jackson  communicated  his  protest  against  this 
resolution  on  the  i/th  of  April.  This  drew  from  Mr.  Web- 
ster, on  the  /th  of  May,  a  speech  of  great  power. 

The  most  eloquent  passage  in  this  speech  is  the  one  in 
which  Mr.  Webster  referred  to  the  extent  of  the  power  of 
England. 

Mr.  Webster  properly  regarded  the  act  of  the  President 
as  unconstitutional,  and  a  dangerous  encroachment  upon 
the  liberties  of  the  people,  and  one  which  should  not  be 
allowed  to  pass  unnoticed. 

He  felicitously  adverted  in  the  course  of  his  speech  to 
the  fundamental  principles  of  civil  liberty,  and  to  the  re- 
sistance made  by  the  Revolutionary  patriots  to  the  claim  of 
England  that  she  had  the  right  to  tax  them.  He  said  : 

"  We  are  not  to  wait  till  great  public  mischiefs  come,  till 
the  government  is  overthrown,  or  liberty  itself  put  into 
extreme  jeopardy.  We  should  not  be  worthy  sons  of  our 
fathers  were  we  so  to  regard  great  questions  affecting  the 
general  freedom.  Those  fathers  accomplished  the  Revolu- 
tion on  a  strict  question  of  principle.  The  Parliament  of 
Great  Britain  asserted  a  right  to  tax  the  Colonies  in  all  cases 
whatsoever;  and  it  was  precisely  on  this  question  that  they 
made  the  Revolution  turn.  The  amount  of  taxation  was 
trifling,  but  the  claim  itself  was  inconsistent  with  liberty  ; 
and  that  was,  in  their  eyes,  enough.  It  was  against  the 
recital  of  an  act  of  Parliament,  rather  than  against  any 
suffering  under  its  enactments,  that  they  took  up  arms. 
They  went  to  war  against  a  preamble.  They  fought  seven 
years  against  a  declaration.  They  poured  out  their  treasures 
and  their  blood  like  water  in  a  contest  against  an  assertion 


396  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 

which  those  less  sagacious  and  not  so  well  schooled  in  the 
principles  of  civil  liberty  would  have  regarded  as  barren 
phraseology,  or  mere  parade  of  words.  "They  saw  in  the 
claim  of  the  British  Parliament  a  seminal  principle  of  mis- 
chief, the  germ  of  unjust  power,  they  detected  it,  dragged  it 
forth  from  underneath  its  plausible  disguises,  struck  at  it ; 
nor  did  it  elude  either  their  steady  eye  or  their  well-directed 
blow  till  they  had  extirpated  and  destroyed  it,  to  the  smallest 
fibre.  On  this  question  of  principle,  while  actual  suffering 
was  yet  afar  off,  they  raised  their  flag  against  a  power,  to 
which,  for  purposes  of  foreign  conquest  and  subjugation,  Rome, 
in  the  height  of  her  glory,  is  not  to  be  compared ;  a  power  which 
has  dotted  over  the  surface  of  the  whole  globe  with  her  pos- 
sessions and  military  posts,  whose  morning  drum-beat, 
following  the  sun,  and  keeping  company  with  the  hours, 
circles  the  earth  with  one  continuous  and  unbroken  strain  of 
the  martial  airs  of  England." 

This  speech  was  well  received  throughout  the  country. 
Chancellor  Kent,  soon  after  the  speech  was  delivered,  wrote 
Mr.  Webster  to  the  following  effect : 

"  You  never  equalled  this  effort.  It  surpasses  everything 
in  logic,  in  simplicity  and  beauty  and  energy  of  diction  ;  in 
cleverness,  in  rebuke,  in  sarcasm,  in  patriotic  and  glowing 
feeling,  in  just  and  profound  constitutional  views,  in  critical 
severity,  and  matchless  strength.  It  is  worth  millions  to  our 
liberties." 

In  the  opinion  of  many  writers,  Webster's  reply  to  Hayne 
was  his  greatest  speech.  Undoubtedly  Mr.  Webster's  well- 
timed  speech  did  much  to  save  the  Union.  His  defence  of 
the  Constitution  was  admirable,  and  his  attack  upon  the 
pernicious  doctrine  of  nullification  was  unanswerable.  Colo- 
nel Hayne  was  a  foeman  worthy  of  his  steel.  The  following 
account  has  been  given  of  him  :  "  Robert  Y.  Hayne,  the 
great  antagonist  of  Daniel  Webster,  and  one  of  the  most 
brilliant  orators  of  the  South,  was  born  near  Charleston, 
South  Carolina,  on  the  loth  of  November,  1791.  The 
Senate  of  the  United  States  was  the  theatre  of  his  greatest 
glory.  Here  he  acquired  a  reputation  which  will  last  for- 


ORATORY  IN  AMERICA.  397 


ever.  In  1832,  Mr.  Hayne  was  elected  Governor  of  South 
Carolina.  He  died  on  the  24th  of  September,  1841,  in  the 
48th  year  of  his  age. 

"  Colonel  Hayne  possessed  some  of  the  highest  characteris- 
tics of  eloquence.  He  was  often  vehement  and  impassioned. 
His  invectives  were  unsparing.  His  voice  was  full  and 
melodious,  and  his  manner  earnest  and  impressive.  Full  of 
ingenuous  sensibility,  his  eyes  were  as  expressive  as  his 
tongue,  and  as  he  poured  out  his  thoughts  or  feelings,  either 
in  a  strain  of  captivating  sweetness  or  of  impetuous  and 
overbearing  passion,  every  emotion  of  his  soul  was  distinctly 
depicted  in  the  lineaments  of  his  countenance.  His  mind 
was  active,  energetic,  and  aggressive.  He  was  full  of  en- 
thusiasm, altogether  in  earnest  ;  when  he  spoke,  every  limb 
of  his  body,  and  every  feature  of  his  countenance,  sympa- 
thised with  the  action  of  his  mind. 

"  Hayne  dashed  into  debate  like  the  Mameluke  cavalry 
upon  a  charge.  There  was  a  gallant  air  about  him  that 
could  not  but  win  admiration.  He  never  provided  for  re- 
treat ;  he  never  imagined  it.  He  had  an  invincible  con- 
fidence in  himself,  which  arose  partly  from  constitutional 
temperament,  partly  from  previous  success.  His  was  the 
Napoleonic  warfare  ;  to  strike  at  once  for  the  capitol  of  the 
enemy,  heedless  of  danger  or  cost  to  his  own  forces.  Not 
doubting  to  overcome  all  odds,  he  feared  none,  however 
seemingly  superior.  Of  great  fluency  and  na  little  force  of 
expression,  his  speech  never  halted,  and  seldom  fatigued. 

"  His  oratory  was  graceful  and  persuasive.  An  impassioned 
manner,  somewhat  vehement  at  times,  but  rarely  if  ever  ex- 
travagant ;  a  voice  well  modulated  and  clear ;  a  distinct, 
though  rapid  enunciation  ;  a  confident  but  not  often  of- 
fensive address  ;  these,  accompanying  and  illustrating  lan- 
guage well  selected,  and  periods  well  turned,  made  him  a 
popular  and  effective  speaker." 

On  Monday,  the  25th  January,  1830,  Colonel  Hayne  in 
concluding  his  argument  made  several  allusions  to  the  East- 
ern States  and  to  Mr.  Webster  personally  which  bordered 
on  the  offensive.  After  Haynes's  speech.  Mr.  Iredell,  a 


39$  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


Senator  from  North  Carolina,  speaking  to  a  friend,  said : 
"  He  has  started  the  lion  ;  but  wait  till  we  hear  his  roar,  or 
feel  his  claws."  Colonel  Hayne  soon  after  did  hear  the  roar 
of  the  lion,  and  did  feel  his  claws. 

The  day  on  which  Mr.  Webster  delivered  his  great  speech 
on  Foot's  resolution — the  26th  day  of  January,  1830 — was  a 
memorable  one  in  the  history  of  Mr.  Webster  and  of  this 
country.  The  scene  in  the  Senate-chamber  as  well  as  the 
circumstances  connected  with  this  speech  are  graphically 
described  by  Mr.  March  : 

"  It  was  on  Tuesday,  January  the  26th,  1830, — a  day  to 
be  hereafter  forever  memorable  in  senatorial  annals, — that 
the  Senate  resumed  the  consideration  of  Foot's  resolution. 
There  never  was  before,  in  the  city,  an  occasion  of  so  much 
excitement.  To  witness  this  great  intellectual  contest,  mul- 
titudes of  strangers  had  for  two  or  three  days  previous  been 
rushing  into  the  city,  and  the  hotels  overflowed.  As  early 
as  9  o'clock  of  this  morning,  crowds  poured  into  the  Capitol, 
in  hot  haste  ;  at  12  o'clock,  the  hour  of  meeting,  the  Senate- 
chamber — its  galleries,  floor,  and  even  lobbies — was  filled  to 
its  utmost  capacity.  The  very  stairways  were  dark  with 
men,  who  hung  on  to  one  another,  like  bees  in  a  swarm. 

"  The  House  of  Representatives  was  early  deserted.  An 
adjournment  would  have  hardly  made  it  emptier.  The 
Speaker,  it  is  true,  retained  his  chair,  but  no  business  of 
moment  was  or  could  be  attended  to.  Members  all  rushed 
in  to  hear  Mr.  Webster,  and  no  call  of  the  House  or  other 
parliamentary  proceedings  could  compel  them  back.  The 
floor  of  the  Senate  was  so  densely  crowded,  that  persons 
once  in  could  not  get  out,  nor  change  their  position  ;  in  the 
rear  of  the  Vice- Presidential  chair,  the  crowd  was  particularly 
dense.  Dixon  H.  Lewis,  then  a  Representative  from  Ala- 
bama, became  wedged  in  here.  From  his  enormous  size,  it 
was  impossible  for  him  to  move  without  displacing  a  vast 
portion  of  the  multitude.  Unfortunately,  too,  for  him,  he 
was  jammed  in  directly  behind  the  chair  of  the  Vice-Presi- 
dent,  where  he  could  not  see,  and  could  hardly  hear,  the 
speaker.  By  slow  and  laborious  effort,  pausing  occasionally 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IK  AMERICA.  399 


to  breathe,  he  gained  one  of  the  windows  which,  constructed 
of  painted  glass,  flanked  the  chair  of  the  Vice-President  on 
either  side.  Here  he  paused,  unable  to  make  more  headway. 
But,  determined  to  see  Mr.  Webster  as  he  spoke,  with  his 
knife  he  made  a  large  hole  in  one  of  the  panes  of  the  glass, 
which  is  still  visible  as  he  made  it.  Many  were  so  placed  as 
not  to  be  able  to  see  the  speaker  at  all.  The  courtesy  of 
Senators  accorded  to  the  fairer  sex  room  on  the  floor — the 
most  gallant  of  them  their  own  seats.  The  gay  bonnets 
and  brilliant  dresses  threw  a  varied  and  picturesque  beauty 
over  the  scene,  softening  and  embellishing  it. 

"  Seldom,  if  ever,  has  a  speaker  in  this  or  any  other  country 
had  more  powerful  incentives  to  exertion  :  a  subject  the  de- 
termination of  which  involved  the  most  important  interests, 
and  even  duration,  of  the  Republic  ;  competitors,  unequalled 
in  reputation,  ability,  or  position  ;  a  name  to  be  made  still 
more  glorious,  or  lost  forever  ;  and  an  audience,  comprising 
not  only  persons  of  this  country  most  prominent  in  intel- 
lectual greatness,  but  representatives  of  other  nations,  where 
the  art  of  eloquence  had  flourished  for  ages.  All  the  soldier 
seeks  in  opportunity  was  here. 

"  Mr.  Webster  perceived,  and  felt  equal  to,  the  destinies 
of  the  moment.  The  very  greatness  of  the  hazard  exhilarated 
him.  His  spirits  rose  with  the  occasion.  He  awaited  the 
time  of  onset  with  a  stern  and  impartial  joy.  He  felt,  like 
the  war-horse  of  the  Scriptures, — who  '  paweth  in  the  valley, 
and  rejoiceth  in  his  strength  ;  who  goeth  on  to  meet  the 
armed  men, — who  sayeth  among  the  trumpets,  Ha,  ha  !  and 
who  smelleth  the  battle  afar  off,  the  thunder  of  the  captains, 
and  the  shouting.' 

"  A  confidence  in  his  own  resources,  springing  from  no 
vain  estimate  of  his  power,  but  the  legitimate  offspring  of 
previous  severe  mental  discipline,  sustained  and  excited  him. 
He  had  gauged  his  opponents,  his  subject,  and  himself. 

"  He  was,  too,  at  this  period,  in  the  very  prime  of  man- 
hood. He  had  reached  middle  age — an  era  in  the  life  of 
man  when  the  faculties,  physical  or  intellectual,  may  be 
supposed  to  attain  their  fullest  organisation  and  most  per- 


4OO  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


feet  development.  Whatever  there  was  in  him  of  intellect- 
ual energy  and  vitality,  the  occasion,  his  full  life  and  high 
ambition,  might  well  bring  forth. 

"  He  never  rose  on  an  ordinary  occasion  to  address  an 
ordinary  audience  more  self-possessed.  There  was  no  tremu- 
lousness  in  his  voice  nor  manner  ;  nothing  hurried,  nothing 
simulated.  The  calmness  of  superior  strength  was  visible 
everywhere  ;  in  countenance,  voice,  and  bearing.  A  deep- 
seated  conviction  of  the  extraordinary  character,  of  the 
emergency,  and  of  his  ability  to  control  it,  seemed  to  pos- 
sess him  wholly.  If  an  observer,  more  than  ordinarily  keen- 
sighted,  detected  at  times  something  like  exultation  in  his 
eye,  he  presumed  it  sprang  from  the  excitement  of  the  mo- 
ment, and  the  anticipation  of  victory. 

"  The  anxiety  to  hear  the  speech  was  so  intense,  irre- 
pressible, and  universal,  that  no  sooner  had  the  Vice-Presi- 
dent  assumed  the  chair,  than  a  motion  was  made  and 
unanimously  carried,  to  postpone  the  ordinary  preliminaries 
of  senatorial  action,  and  to  take  up  immediately  the  con- 
sideration of  the  resolution. 

"  Mr.  Webster  rose  and  addressed  the  Senate.  His  ex- 
ordium is  known  by  heart,  everywhere :  '  Mr.  President, 
when  the  mariner  has  been  tossed,  for  many  days,  in  thick 
weather,  and  on  an  unknown  sea,  he  naturally  avails  him- 
self of  the  first  pause  in  the  storm,  the  earliest  glance  of  the 
sun,  to  take  his  latitude,  and  ascertain  how  far  the  elements 
have  driven  him  from  his  true  course..  Let  us  imitate  this 
prudence ;  and  before  we  float  farther  on  the  waves  of  this 
debate,  refer  to  the  point  from  which  we  departed,  that  we 
may,  at  least,  be  able  to  form  some  conjecture  where  we 
now  are.  I  ask  for  the  reading  of  the  resolution.' 

"  There  wanted  no  more  to  enchain  the  attention.  There 
was  a  spontaneous,  though  silent,  expression  of  eager  appro- 
bation, as  the  orator  concluded  these  opening  remarks. 
And  while  the  clerk  read  the  resolution,  many  attempted 
the  impossibility  of  getting  near  the  speaker.  Every  head 
was  inclined  closer  towards  him,  every  ear  turned  in  the 
direction  of  his  voice — and  that  deep,  sudden,  mysterious 


ORATORY  IN  AMERICA.  401 


silence  followed,  which  always  attends  fulness  of  emotion. 
From  the  sea  of  upturned  faces  before  him,  the  orator  be- 
held his  thoughts  reflected  as  from  a  mirror.  The  varying 
countenance,  the  suffused  eye,  the  earnest  smile,  and  ever- 
attentive  look  assured  him  of  his  audience's  entire  sympa- 
thy. If  among  his  hearers  there  were  those  who  affected  at 
first  an  indifference  to  his  glowing  thoughts  and  fervent 
periods,  the  difficult  mask  was  soon  laid  aside,  and  profound, 
undisguised,  devoted  attention  followed.  In  the  earlier  part 
of  his  speech,  one  of  his  principal  opponents  seemed  deeply 
engrossed  in  the  careful  perusal  of  a  newspaper  he  held  be- 
fore his  face ;  but  this,  on  nearer  approach,  proved  to  be 
upside  down.  In  truth,  all,  sooner  or  later,  voluntarily,  or 
in  spite  of  themselves,  were  wholly  carried  away  by  the 
eloquence  of  the  orator. 

"  Those  who  had  doubted  Mr.  Webster's  ability  to  cope 
with  and  overcome  his  opponents  were  fully  satisfied  of 
their  error  before  he  had  proceeded  far  in  his  speech.  Their 
fears  soon  took  another  direction.  When  they  heard  his 
sentences  of  powerful  thought,  towering  in  accumulative 
grandeur,  one  above  the  other,  as  if  the  orator  strove,  Titan- 
like,  to  reach  the  very  heavens  themselves,  they  were  giddy 
with  an  apprehension  that  he  would  break  down  in  his  flight. 
They  dared  not  believe  that  genius,  learning,  any  intellect- 
ual endowment  however  uncommon,  that  was  simply 
mortal,  could  sustain  itself  long  in  a  career  seemingly  so 
perillous.  They  feared  an  Icarian  fall. 

"  Ah !  who  can  ever  forget,  that  was  present  to  hear,  the 
tremendous,  the  awful  burst  of  eloquence  with  which  the 
orator  spoke  of  the  Old  Bay  State  !  or  the  tones  of  deep 
pathos  in  which  the  words  were  pronounced. 

" '  Mr.  President,  I  shall  enter  on  no  encomium  upon 
Massachusetts.  There  she  is — behold  her,  and  judge  for 
yourselves.  There  is  her  history ;  the  world  knows  it  by 
heart.  The  past,  at  least,  is  secure.  There  is  Boston,  and 
Concord,  and  Lexington,  and  Bunker  Hill — and  there  they 
will  remain  forever.  The  bones  of  her  sons  fallen  in  the 

great  struggle  for  independence,  now  mingle  with  the  soil 

26 


402  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


of  every  State,  from  New  England  to  Georgia ;  and  there 
they  will  lie  forever.  And,  sir,  where  American  Liberty 
raised  its  first  voice ;  and  where  its  youth  was  nurtured  and 
sustained,  there  it  still  lives,  in  the  strength  of  its  manhood 
and  full  of  its  original  spirit.  If  discord  and  disunion  shall 
wound  it — if  party  strife  and  blind  ambition  shall  hawk  at 
and  tear  it — if  folly  and  madness — if  uneasiness,  under  salu- 
tary and  necessary  restraint — shall  succeed  to  separate  it 
from  that  Union  by  which  alone  its  existence  is  made  sure, 
it  will  stand,  in  the  end,  by  the  side  of  that  cradle  in  which 
its  infancy  was  rocked  ;  it  will  stretch  forth  its  arm  with 
whatever  of  vigour  it  may  still  retain,  over  the  friends  who 
gather  round  it ;  and  it  will  fall  at  last,  if  fall  it  must,  amidst 
the  proudest  monuments  of  its  own  glory,  and  on  the  very 
spot  of  its  origin.' 

"  What  New  England  heart  was  there  but  throbbed  with 
vehement,  tumultuous,  irrepressible  emotion,  as  he  dwelt 
upon  New  England  sufferings,  New  England  struggles,  and 
New  England  triumphs  during  the  war  of  the  Revolution? 
There  was  scarcely  a  dry  eye  in  the  Senate  ;  all  hearts  were 
overcome ;  grave  judges  and  men  grown  old  in  dignified 
life  turned  aside  their  heads,  to  conceal  the  evidences  of 
their  emotion. 

"  In  one  corner  of  the  gallery  was  clustered  a  group  of 
Massachusetts  men.  They  had  hung  from  the  first  moment 
upon  the  words  of  the  speaker,  with  feelings  variously  but 
always  warmly  excited,  deepening  in  intensity  as  he  pro- 
ceeded. At  first,  while  the  orator  was  going  through  his 
exordium,  they  held  their  breath  and  hid  their  faces,  mind- 
ful of  the  savage  attacks  upon  him  and  New  England,  and 
the  fearful  odds  against  him,  her  champion ; — as  he  went 
deeper  into  his  speech,  they  felt  easier  ;  when  he  turned 
Haynes's  flank  on  Banquo's  ghost,  they  breathed  freer  and 
deeper.  But  now,  as  he  alluded  to  Massachusetts,  their 
feelings  were  strained  to  the  highest  tension  ;  and  when  the 
orator,  concluding  his  encomium  upon  the  land  of  their 
birth,  turned,  intentionally  or  otherwise,  his  burning  eye  full 
upon  them — they  shed  tears  like  girls  ! 


ORATORY  IN  AMERICA.  403 


"  No  one  who  was  not  present  can  understand  the  excite- 
ment of  the  scene.  No  one,  who  was,  can  give  an  adequate 
description  of  it.  No  word-painting  can  convey  the  deep, 
intense  enthusiasm,  the  reverential  attention,  of  that  vast 
assembly — nor  limner  transfer  to  canvas  their  earnest,  eager, 
awe-struck  countenances.  Though  language  were  as  subtile 
and  flexible  as  thought,  it  still  would  be  impossible  to  repre- 
sent the  full  idea  of  the  scene.  There  is  something  intangi- 
ble in  an  emotion,  which  cannot  be  transferred.  The  nicer 
shades  of  feeling  elude  pursuit.  Every  description,  there- 
fore, of  the  occasion,  seems  to  the  narrator  himself  most 
tame,  spiritless,  unjust. 

"  Much  of  the  instantaneous  effect  of  the  speech  arose,  of 
course,  from  the  orator's  delivery,  the  tones  of  his  voice,  his 
countenance  and  manner.  These  die  mostly  with  the  occasion 
that  calls  them  forth — the  impression  is  lost  in  the  attempt 
at  transmission  from  one  mind  to  another.  They  can  only 
be  described  in  general  terms.  '  Of  the  effectiveness  of  Mr. 
Webster's  manner,  in  many  parts,'  says  Mr.  Everett,  '  it 
would  be  in  vain  to  attempt  to  give  any  one  not  present  the 
faintest  idea.  It  has  been  my  fortune  to  hear  some  of  the 
ablest  speeches  of  the  greatest  living  orators  on  both  sides 
of  the  water,  but  I  must  confess  I  never  heard  anything 
which  so  completely  realised  my  conception  of  what  Demos- 
thenes was  when  he  delivered  the  Oration  for  the  Crown.' 
The  variety  of  incident  during  the  speech,  and  the  rapid 
fluctuation  of  passions,  kept  the  audience  in  continual  ex- 
pectation and  ceaseless  agitation.  There  was  no  chord  of 
the  heart  the  orator  did  not  strike,  as  with  a  master-hand. 
The  speech  was  a  complete  drama  of  comic  and  pathetic 
scenes  :  one  varied  excitement ;  laughter  and  tears  gaining 
alternate  victory. 

"  A  great  portion  of  the  speech  is  strictly  argumentative ; 
an  exposition  of  constitutional  law.  But  grave  as  such  por- 
tion necessarily  is,  severely  logical,  abounding  in  no  fancy  or 
episode,  it  engrossed  throughout  the  undivided  attention  of 
every  intelligent  hearer.  Abstractions,  under  the  glowing 
genius  of  the  orator,  acquired  a  beauty,  a  vitality,  a  power 


404  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


to  thrill  the  blood  and  enkindle  the  affections,  awakening  into 
earnest  activity  many  a  dormant  faculty.  His  ponderous 
syllables  had  an  energy,  a  vehemence  of  meaning  in  them 
that  fascinated,  while  they  startled.  His  thoughts  in  their 
statuesque  beauty  merely  would  have  gained  all  critical  judg- 
ment ;  but  he  realised  the  antique  fable,  and  warmed  the 
marble  into  life.  There  was  a  sense  of  power  in  his  language, 
— of  power  withheld  and  suggestive  of  still  greater  power, — 
that  subdued,  as  by  a  spell  of  mystery,  the  hearts  of  all.  For 
power  whether  intellectual  or  physical,  produces  in  its  earliest 
development  a  feeling  closely  allied  to  awe.  It  was  never 
more  felt  than  on  this  occasion.  It  had  entire  mastery. 
The  sex  which  is  said  to  love  it  best  and  abuse  it  most, 
seemed  as  much  or  more  carried  away  than  the  sterner  one. 
Many  who  had  entered  the  hall  with  light,  gay  thoughts, 
anticipating  at  most  a  pleasurable  excitement,  soon  became 
deeply  interested  in  the  speaker  and  his  subject,  surrendered 
him  their  entire  heart  ;  and,  when  the  speech  was  over,  and 
they  left  the  hall,  it  was  with  sadder,  perhaps,  but,  surely, 
with  far  more  elevated  and  ennobling  emotions. 

"  The  exulting  rush  of  feeling  with  which  he  went  through 
the  peroration  threw  a  glow  over  his  countenance,  like  in- 
spiration. Eye,  brow,  each  feature,  every  line  of  the  face, 
seemed  touched  as  with  a  celestial  fire. 

"  The  swell  and  roll  of  his  voice  struck  upon  the  ears  of 
the  spell-bound  audience  in  deep  and  melodious  cadence,  as 
waves  upon  the  far-resounding  sea.  The  Miltonic  grandeur 
of  his  words  was  the  fit  expression  of  his  thought  and  raised 
his  hearers  up  to  his  theme.  His  voice,  exerted  to  its 
utmost  power,  penetrated  every  recess  or  corner  of  the 
Senate,  penetrated  even  the  ante-rooms  and  stairways,  as 
he  pronounced,  in  deepest  tones  of  pathos,  these  words  of 
solemn  significance  :  '  When  my  eyes  shall  be  turned  to  be- 
hold, for  the  last  time,  the  sun  in  heaven,  may  I  not  see  him 
shining  on  the  broken  and  dishonoured  fragments  of  a  once 
glorious  Union  ;  on  States  dissevered,  discordant,  belligerent ; 
on  a  land  rent  with  civil  feuds,  or  drenched,  it  may  be,  in 
fraternal  blood  !  Let  their  last  feeble  and  lingering  glance 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  A  M  ERIC  A .  405 


rather  behold  the  glorious  ensign  of  the  Republic,  now 
known  and  honoured  throughout  the  earth,  still  full  high 
advanced,  its  arms  and  trophies  streaming  in  their  original 
lustre,  not  a  stripe  erased  or  polluted,  not  a  single  star 
obscured,  bearing  for  its  motto  no  such  miserable  interroga- 
tory as,  What  is  all  this  worth  ?  nor  those  other  words  of 
delusion  and  folly  :  Liberty  first  and  Union  afterwards  ;  but 
everywhere^spread  all  over  in  characters  of  living  light, 
blazing  on  all  its  ample  folds,  as  they  float  over  the  sea 
and  over  the  land,  and  in  every  wind  under  the  whole 
heavens,  that  other  sentiment,  dear  to  every  American 
heart :  Liberty  and  Union,  now  and  forever,  one  and  in- 
separable*   , 

"  The  speech  w^s  over,  but  the  tones  of  the  orator  still 
lingered  upon  the  ear,  and  the  audience,  unconscious  of  the 
close,  retained  their  positions.  The  agitated  countenance, 
the  heaving  breast,  the  suffused  eye,  attested  the  continued 
influence  of  the  spell  upon  them.  Hands  that  in  the  excite- 
ment of  the  moment  had  sought  each  other,  still  remained 
closed  in  an  unconscious  grasp.  Eye  still  turned  to  eye,  to 
receive  and  repay  mutual  sympathy  ; — and  everywhere 
around  seemed  forgetfulness  of  all  but  the  orator's  presence 
and  words." 

Mr.  Webster  in  the  course  of  his  speech  paid  a  glowing 
tribute  to  the  patriotism  of  the  South  during  the  war  of  the 
Revolution.  He  was  earnestly  desirous  of  preserving  the 
Union.  He  had  a  just  horror  of  the  vices  of  the  slave  sys- 
tem, but  he  was  afraid  that  the  Union  could  not  be  preserved 
if  the  question  was  agitated,  and  he  preferred  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  Union  at  all  hazards.  But  the  friends  of  Mr. 
Webster  always  regretted  the  position  he  assumed  on  the 
slave  question  in  the  great  speech  he  delivered  on  the  7th  of 
March,  1850,  about  two  years  before  his  death. 

No  well-informed  statesman  either  North  or  South  would 
have  the  brazen  effrontery  at  the  present  time  to  advocate 
the  mischievous  doctrine  of  secession  or  nullification.  No 
one  who  has  a  logical  mind  can  fail  to  be  convinced,  after 
reading  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  and  the  politi- 


406  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


cal  history  of  this  country,  that  the  secession  notions  were 
nonsensical.  All  great  questions  which  have  heretofore 
divided  the  North  and  South  have  happily  been  settled.  It 
is  an  error,  commonly  made,  that  the  doctrine  of  secession 
originated  in  South  Carolina,  and  that  it  was  first  conceived 
by  John  C.  Calhoun,  the  great  Disunionist,  the  great  Seces- 
sionist, the  great  Nullifier,  and  the  great  bad  man  generally. 

The  writer  is  not  a  defender  of  Calhoun's  political  princi- 
ples, on  the  contrary  he  has  always  opposed  them,  but  he 
certainly  did  not  originate  the  doctrine  of  secession,  and  no 
well-informed  statesman  will  contend  that  he  did.  It  is 
difficult  to  trace  the  origin  of  secession  views.  Statesmen 
North,  South,  and  West  have  held  them  at  various  times. 
One  of  the  first  traces  of  the  secession  doctrine  is  to  be 
found  in  the  Abridged  Congressional  Debates,  vol.  iv.,  page 
327.  According  to  the  Record,  Mr.  Josiah  Quincy,  of 
Massachusetts,  while  discussing,  (1811)  a  bill  for  the  admis- 
sion of  what  was  then  called  the  Orleans  Territory,  now 
Louisiana  into  the  Union  as  a  State,  said,  with  the  approval 
of  many  of  his  colleagues,  that  Congress  did  not  have  the 
power  to  admit  into  the  Union  a  foreign  state,  whose  territory 
was  not  a  part  of  the  original  domain  at  the  time  of  the 
adoption  of  the  Constitution  and  the  formation  of  the  Union 
Consummated.  Mr.  Quincy  said,  that  if  the  bill  was  passed 
and  Orleans  (what  is  now  Louisiana)  was  admitted,  the  act 
would  be  subversive  of  the  Union,  and  each  State  would  be 
freed  from  its  federal  bonds  and  obligations,  "  and  that  as  it 
will  be,  the  right  of  all  (the  States)  so  it  will  be  the  duty  of 
some,  to  prepare  definitely  for  a  separation — amicably  if  they 
can,  violently  if  they  must."  Afterward  he  committed  what 
he  had  said  to  writing,  in  order  to  avoid  mistake,  in  the  fol- 
lowing language  : 

"If  this  bill  passes,  it  is  my  deliberate  opinion  that  it  is  vir- 
tually a  dissolution  of  the  Union  ;  that  it  will  free  the  States 
from  their  moral  obligation,  and  as  it  will  be  the  right  of  all, 
so  it  will  be  the  duty  of  some,  definitely  to  prepare  for  a 
separation — amicably  if  they  can,  violently  if  they  must." 

Doctrines  of  a  similar  character  were   advocated    a    few 


ORATORY  IN  AMERICA.  407 


years  afterward  at  the  famous  Hartford  Convention.  Even 
prior  to  Quincy's  time  the  doctrine  had  doubtless  been 
enunciated. 

Webster's  magnificent  speech,  the  greatest,  in  many  re- 
spects, ever  made  by  an  orator  in  ancient  or  modern  times, 
did  incalculable  service  to  his  country. 

The  same  year  Mr.  Webster  made  an  eloquent  forensic 
address  on  the  trial  of  John  Francis  Knapp,  for  the  murder 
of  Captain  Joseph  White,  of  Salem,  Mass. 

When  reminding  the  jury  of  the  obligation  they  were  under 
to  discharge  their  duty,  he  said  in  part : 

"  Gentlemen  :  Your  whole  concern  should  be  to  do  your 
duty,  and  leave  consequences  to  take  care  of  themselves. 
You  will  receive  the  law  from  the  court.  Your  verdict  't  is 
true  may  endanger  the  prisoner's  life  ;  but  then  it  is  to  save 
other  lives.  If  the  prisoner's  guilt  has  been  shown  and 
proved,  beyond  all  reasonable  doubt,  you  will  convict 
him.  If  such  reasonable  doubt  of  guilt  remain,  you  will 
acquit  him.  You  are  the  judges  of  the  whole  case.  You  owe 
a  duty  to  the  public,  as  well  as  to  the  prisoner  at  the  bar. 
You  cannot  presume  to  be  wiser  than  the  law.  Your  duty 
is  a  plain  straightforward  one.  Doubtless,  we  would  all  judge 
him  in  mercy.  Towards  him,  as  an  individual,  the  law  incul- 
cates no  hostility ;  but  towards  him,  if  proved  to  be  a  mur- 
derer, the  law,  and  the  oaths  you  have  taken,  and  public 
justice,  demand  that  you  do  your  duty. 

"  With  consciences  satisfied  with  the  discharge  of  duty, 
no  consequences  can  harm  you.  There  is  no  evil  that  we 
cannot  either  face  or  fly  from,  but  the  consciousness  of  duty 
disregarded. 

"  A  sense  of  duty  pursues  us  ever.  It  is  omnipresent,  like 
the  Deity.  If  we  take  to  ourselves  the  wings  of  the  morn- 
ing and  dwell  in  the  utmost  parts  of  the  seas,  duty  performed, 
or  duty  violated,  is  still  with  us,  for  our  happiness  or  our 
misery.  If  we  say  the  darkness  shall  cover  us,  in  the  dark- 
ness, as  in  the  light  our  obligations  are  yet  with  us.  We 
cannot  escape  their  power,  nor  fly  from  their  presence.  They 
are  with  us  in  this  life,  will  be  with  us  at  its  close ;  and  in 


408  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


that  scene  of  inconceivable  solemnity,  which  lies  yet  farther 
onward— we  shall  still  find  ourselves  surrounded  by  the  con- 
sciousness of  duty,  to  pain  us  wherever  it  has  been  violated, 
and  to  console  us  so  far  as  God  may  have  given  us  grace  to 
perform  it." 

Mr.  Webster  in  his  picture  of  the  self-betrayal  of 
the  murderer,  shows  a  profound  knowledge  of  human 
nature  : 

"  Ah  !  gentlemen,  that  was  a  dreadful  mistake.  Such  a 
secret  can  be  safe  nowhere.  The  whole  creation  of  God  has 
neither  nook  nor  corner  where  the  guilty  can  bestow  it,  and 
say  it  is  safe.  Not  to  speak  of  that  eye  which  glances  through 
all  disguises,  and  beholds  everything  as  in  the  splendour  of 
noon — such  secrets  of  guilt  are  never  safe  from  detection, 
even  by  men.  True  it  is,  generally  speaking,  that  '  murder 
will  out.'  True  it  is,  that  Providence  hath  so  ordained,  and 
doth  so  govern  things,  that  those  who  break  the  great  law  of 
heaven,  by  shedding  man's  blood,  seldom  succeed  in  avoid- 
ing discovery.  Especially,  in  a  case  exciting  so  much  atten- 
tion as  this,  discovery  must  come,  and  will  come  sooner  or 
later.  A  thousand  eyes  turn  at  once  to  explore  every 
man,  every  thing,  every  circumstance,  connected  with  the 
time  and  place  ;  a  thousand  ears  catch  every  whisper  ;  a  thou- 
sand excited  minds  intensely  dwell  on  the  scene,  shedding 
all  their  light,  and  ready  to  kindle  the  slightest  circumstance 
into  a  blaze  of  discovery.  Meantime  the  guilty  soul  cannot 
keep  its  own  secret.  It  is  false  to  itself ;  or  rather  it  feels 
an  irresistible  impulse  of  conscience  to  be  true  to  itself.  It 
labours  under  its  guilty  possession,  and  knows  not  what  to  do 
with  it.  The  human  heart  was  not  made  for  the  residence  of 
such  an  inhabitant.  It  finds  itself  preyed  on  by  a  torment, 
which  it  dares  not  acknowledge  to  God  or  man.  A  vulture  is 
devouring  it,  and  it  can  ask  no  sympathy  or  assistance,  either 
from  heaven  or  earth.  The  secret  which  the  murderer  pos- 
sesses soon  comes  to  possess  him  ;  and,  like  the  evil  spirits 
of  which  we  read,  it  overcomes  him,  and  leads  him  whither- 
soever it  will.  He  feels  it  beating  at  his  heart,  rising  to  his 
throat,  and  demanding  disclosure.  He  thinks  the  whole 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  A  M  ERICA .  409 


world  sees  it  in  his  face,  reads  it  in  his  eyes,  and  almost  hears 
its  workings  in  the  very  silence  of  his  thoughts.  It  has  be- 
come his  master.  It  betrays  his  discretion,  it  breaks  down 
his  courage,  it  conquers  his  prudence.  When  suspicions, 
from  without,  begin  to  embarrass  him,  and  the  net  of  circum- 
stance to  entangle  him,  the  fatal  secret  struggles  with  still 
greater  violence  to  burst  forth.  It  must  be  confessed,  it  will 
be  confessed,  there  is  no  refuge  from  confession  but  suicide, 
and  suicide  is  confession." 

And  in  the  same  speech,  with  what  great  ability  does  he 
set  forth  his  theory  of  the  murderer's  plan : 

"  Let  me  ask  your  attention,  then,  in  the  first  place, 
to  those  appearances  on  the  morning  after  the  murder, 
which  have  a  tendency  to  show  that  it  was  done  in  pursu- 
ance of  a  preconcerted  plan  of  operation.  What  are  they? 
A  man  was  found  murdered  in  his  bed.  No  stranger  had 
done  the  deed — no  one  acquainted  with  the  house  had  done 
it.  It  was  apparent,  that  somebody  from  within  had  opened, 
and  somebody  from  without  had  entered.  There  had  been 
there,  obviously  and  certainly,  concert  and  co-operation. 
The  inmates  of  the  house  were  not  alarmed  when  the  mur- 
der was  perpetrated.  The  assassin  had  entered,  without 
any  riot,  or  any  violence.  He  had  found  the  way  prepared 
before  him.  The  house  had  been  previously  opened.  The 
window  was  unbarred,  from  within,  and  its  fastenings  un- 
screwed. There  was  a  lock  on  the  door  of  the  chamber  in 
which  Mr.  White  slept,  but  the  key  was  gone.  It  had  been 
taken  away,  and  secreted.  The  footsteps  of  the  murderer 
were  visible,  out-doors,  tending  toward  the  window.  The 
plank  by  which  he  entered  the  window  still  remained.  The 
road  he  pursued  had  been  thus  prepared  for  him.  The  vic- 
tim was  slain,  and  the  murderer  had  escaped.  Everything 
indicated  that  somebody  from  within  had  co-operated  with 
somebody  from  without.  Everything  proclaimed  that  some 
of  the  inmates,  or  somebody  having  access  to  the  house,  had 
had  a  hand  in  the  murder.  On  the  face  of  the  circumstan- 
ces, it  was  apparent,  therefore,  that  this  was  a  premeditated, 
concerted,  conspired  murder.  Who,  then,  were  the  conspir- 


410  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


ators  ?  If  not  now  found  out,  we  are  still  groping  in  the 
dark,  and  the  whole  tragedy  is  still  a  mystery." 

When  the  Bunker  Hill  Monument  was  completed  in  1843, 
Mr.  Webster  was  invited  to  deliver  an  oration  on  the  occa- 
sion. 

At  least  one  hundred  thousand  people  were  present. 

The  eloquence  of  the  following  remarkable  passage  com- 
pels its  insertion  here.  Mr.  Webster  said  : 

"  A  duty  has  been  performed.  A  work  of  gratitude  and 
patriotism  is  completed.  This  structure,  having  its  founda- 
tions in  soil  which  drank  deep  of  early  Revolutionary  blood, 
has  at  length  reached  its  destined  height,  and  now  lifts  its 
summit  to  the  skies. 

"  The  Bunker  Hill  Monument  is  finished.  Here  it  stands. 
Fortunate  in  the  high  natural  eminence  in  which  it  is  placed, 
higher,  infinitely  higher,  in  its  objects  and  purpose,  it  rises 
over  the  land  and  over  the  sea ;  and,  visible,  at  their  homes, 
to  three  hundred  thousand  of  the  people  of  Massachusetts, 
it  stands  a  memorial  of  the  last,  and  a  monitor  to  the  pres- 
ent and  to  all  succeeding  generations.  I  have  spoken  of  the 
loftiness  of  its  purpose.  If  it  had  been  without  any  other 
design  than  the  creation  of  a  work  of  art,  the  granite  of  which 
it  is  composed  would  have  slept  in  its  native  bed.  It  has  a 
purpose,  and  that  purpose  gives  it  character.  That  purpose 
enrobes  it  with  dignity  and  moral  grandeur.  That  well- 
known  purpose  it  is  which  causes  us  to  look  up  to  it  with  a 
feeling  of  awe.  It  is  itself  the  orator  of  this  occasion.  It  is 
not  from  my  lips,  it  could  not  be  from  any  human  lips,  that 
that  strain  of  eloquence  is  this  day  to  flow  most  competent 
to  move  and  excite  the  vast  multitudes  around  me.  The 
powerful  speaker  stands  motionless  before  us.  It  is  a  plain 
shaft.  It  bears  no  inscriptions,  fronting  to  the  rising  sun, 
from  which  the  future  antiquary  shall  wipe  the  dust.  Nor 
does  the  rising  sun  cause  tones  of  music  to  issue  from  its 
summit.  But  at  the  rising  of  the  sun,  and  at  the  setting  of 
the  sun,  in  the  blaze  of  noonday,  and  beneath  the  milder 
effulgence  of  lunar  light,  it  looks,  it  speaks,  it  acts,  to  the 
full  comprehension  of  every  American  mind,  and  the  awak- 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  AMERICA.  41 1 


ening  of  glowing  enthusiasm  in  every  American  heart.  Its 
silent,  but  awful  utterance ;  its  deep  pathos,  as  it  brings  to 
our  contemplation  the  i/th  of  June,  1775,  and  the  conse- 
quences which  have  resulted  to  us,  to  our  country,  and  to 
the  world,  from  the  events  of  that  day,  and  which  we  know 
must  continue  to  rain  influence  on  the  destinies  of  mankind 
to  the  end  of  time ;  the  elevation  with  which  it  raises  us 
high  above  the  ordinary  feeling  of  life,  surpass  all  that  the 
study  of  the  closet;  or  even  the  inspiration  of  genius,  can 
produce.  To-day  it  speaks  to  us.  Its  future  auditories  will 
be  the  successive  generations  of  men,  as  they  rise  up  before 
it  and  gather  around  it.  Its  speech  will  be  of  patriotism 
and  courage  ;  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  ;  of  free  govern- 
ment ;  of  the  moral  improvement  and  elevation  of  mankind  ; 
and  of  the  immortal  memory  of  those  who,  with  heroic  devo- 
tion, have  sacrificed  their  lives  for  their  country." 

In  this  connection,  the  writer  is  of  the  opinion,  that  the 
following  beautiful  and  eloquent  passage  from  the  speech  of 
Kossuth,  the  Hungarian  patriot,  cannot  fail  to  prove  inter- 
esting to  the  intelligent  reader: 

"  My  voice  shrinks  from  the  task  to  mingle  with  the  awful 
pathos  of  that  orator  [pointing  to  the  monument].  Silent 
like  the  grave,  and  yet  melodious  like  the  song  of  immor- 
tality upon  the  lips  of  cherubim, — senseless,  cold  granite, 
and  yet  warm  with  inspiration  like  a  patriot's  heart, — im- 
movable like  the  past,  and  yet  stirring  like  the  future, 
which  never  stops, — it  looks  like  a  prophet,  and  speaks  like 
an  oracle.  And  thus  it  speaks : 

"  *  The  day  I  commemorate  is  the  rod  with  which  the 
hand  of  the  Lord  has  opened  the  well  of  Liberty.  Its  waters 
will  flow  ;  every  new  drop  of  martyr  blood  will  increase  the 
tide.  Despots  may  dam  its  flood,  but  never  stop  it.  The 
higher  its  dam,  the  higher  the  tide  ;  it  will  overflow,  or  break 
through. 

"  *  Bow,  and  adore,  and  hope  ! ' 

"  Such  are  the  words  which  come  to  my  ears  ;  and  I  bow, 
I  adore,  I  hope ! 

"  In  bowing,  my  eyes  meet  the  soil  of  Bunker  Hill — that 


412  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


awful  opening  scene  of  the  eventful  drama  to  which  Lexing- 
ton arid  Concord  had  been  the  preface. 

"  The  spirits  of  the  past  rise  before  my  eyes.  I  see  Richard 
Gridley  hastily  planning  the  entrenchments.  I  hear  the  dull, 
cold,  blunt  sound  of  the  pickaxe  and  spade  in  the  hands  of 
the  patriot  band.  I  hear  the  patrols  say  that  '  all  is  well/ 
I  see  Knowlton  raising  his  line  of  rail  fence,  upon  which  soon 
the  guns  will  rest,  that  the  bullets  may  prove  to  their  mes- 
sage true.  I  see  the  tall,  commanding  form  of  Prescott 
marching  leisurely  around  the  parapet,  inflaming  the  tired 
patriots  with  the  classical  words  that  those  who  had  the 
merit  of  the  labour  should  have  the  honour  of  the  victory.  I 
see  Asa  Pollard  fall,  the  first  victim  of  that  immortal  day ;  I 
see  the  chaplain  praying  over  him ;  and  now  the  roaring  of 
cannon  from  ships  and  from  batteries,  and  the  blaze  of  the 
burning  town,  and  the  thrice-renewed  storm,  and  the  persever- 
ing defence,  till  powder  was  gone,  and  but  stones  remained. 
And  I  see  Warren  telling  Elbridge  Gerry  that  it  is  sweet  and 
fair  to  die  for  the  fatherland.  I  see  him  lingering  in  his  retreat, 
and,  struck  in  the  forehead,  fall  to  the  ground  ;  and  Pom- 
eroy  with  his  shattered  musket  in  his  brave  hand,  complain- 
ing that  he  remained  unhurt  when  Warren  had  to  die ;  and 
I  see  all  the  brave  who  fell  unnamed,  unnoticed,  and  un- 
known, the  nameless  corner-stones  of  American  indepen- 
dence ! " 

The  last  of  Mr.  Webster's  patriotic  addresses  was  deliv- 
ered on  the  4th  of  July,  1851,  at  the  magnificent  ceremonial 
of  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  the  addition  to  the  Capi- 
tol. It  was  one  of  the  greatest  of  his  orations.  It  was  natu- 
ral that  the  orator  should  refer  to  the  illustrious  Washington, 
who,  in  1793,  had  laid  the  corner-stone  of  the  original  Capi- 
tol. "  The  allusion  and  apostrophe  to  Washington  will  be 
rehearsed  by  the  generous  youth  of  America  as  long  as  the 
English  language  is  spoken  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic 
Ocean,"  said  Everett.  In  the  following  lines  we  have  the 
beautiful  allusion  and  apostrophe  : 

"  Fellow-citizens,  what  contemplations  are  awakened  in 
our  minds  as  we  assemble  here  to  re-enact  a  scene  like  that 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  A  ME  RICA .  413 


performed  by  Washington!  Methinks  I  see  his  venerable 
form  now  before  me,  as  presented  in  the  glorious  statue  by 
Houdon,  now  in  the  Capitol  of  Virginia.  He  is  dignified 
and  grave,  but  concern  and  anxiety  seem  to  soften  the 
lineaments  of  his  countenance.  The  government  over  which 
he  presides  is  yet  in  the  crisis  of  experiment.  Not  free 
from  troubles  at  home,  he  sees  the  world  in  commotion  and 
in  arms  all  around  him.  He  sees  that  imposing  foreign 
powers  are  half  disposed  to  try  the  strength  of  the  recently 
established  American  government.  We  perceive  that  mighty 
thoughts,  mingled  with  fears  as  well  as  with  hopes,  are 
struggling  within  him.  He  heads  a  short  procession  over 
these  then  naked  fields ;  he  crosses  yonder  stream  on  a 
fallen  tree ;  he  ascends  to  the  top  of  this  eminence,  whose 
original  oaks  of  the  forest  stand  as  thick  around  him  as  if 
the  spot  had  been  devoted  to  Druidical  worship,  and  here 
he  performs  the  appointed  duty  of  the  day. 

"  And  now,  fellow-citizens,  if  this  vision  were  a  reality  ;  if 
Washington  actually  were  now  amongst  us,  and  if  he  could 
draw  around  him  the  shades  of  the  great  public  men  of  his 
own  day,  patriots  and  warriors,  orators  and  statesmen,  and 
were  to  address  us  in  their  presence,  would  he  not  say  to 
us :  *  Ye  men  of  this  generation,  I  rejoice  and  thank  God 
for  being  able  to  see  that  our  labours  and  toils  and  sacrifices 
were  not  in  vain.  You  are  prosperous,  you  are  happy,  you 
are  grateful ;  the  fire  of  liberty  burns  brightly  and  steadily 
in  your  hearts,  while  duty  and  the  law  restrain  it  from  burst- 
ing forth  in  wild  and  destructive  conflagration.  Cherish 
liberty,  as  you  love  it  ;  cherish  its  securities,  as  you  wish  to 
preserve  it.  Maintain  the  Constitution  which  we  laboured 
so  painfully  to  establish,  and  which  has  been  to  you  such  a 
source  of  inestimable  olessings.  Preserve  the  union  of  the 
States,  cemented  as  it  was  by  our  prayers,  our  tears,  and 
our  blood.  Be  true  to  God,  to  your  country,  and  to  your 
duty.  So  shall  the  whole  eastern  world  follow  the  morning 
sun  to  contemplate  you  as  a  nation  ;  so  shall  all  generations 
honour  you,  as  they  honour  us;  and  so  shall  that  Almighty 
Power  which  so  graciously  protected  us,  and  which  now 


41 4  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


protects  you,  shower  its  everlasting  blessings  upon  you  and 
your  posterity.' 

"  Great  Father  of  your  Country  !  we  heed  your  words ; 
we  feel  their  force  as  if  you  now  uttered  them  with  lips  of 
flesh  and  blood.  Your  example  teaches  us,  your  affection- 
ate addresses  teach  us,  your  public  life  teaches  us,  your 
sense  of  the  value  of  the  blessings  of  the  Union.  Those 
blessings  our  fathers  have  tasted,  and  we  have  tasted,  and 
still  taste.  Nor  do  we  intend  that  those  who  come  after  us 
shall  be  denied  the  same  high  fruition.  Our  honour  as  well 
as  our  happiness  is  concerned.  We  can  not,  we  dare  not, 
we  will  not,  betray  our  sacred  trust.  We  will  not  filch  from 
posterity  the  treasure  placed  in  our  hands  to  be  transmitted 
to  other  generations.  The  bow  that  gilds  the  clouds  in  the 
heavens,  the  pillars  that  uphold  the  firmament,  may  disap- 
pear and  fall  away  in  the  hour  appointed  by  the  will  of 
God  ;  but  until  that  day  comes,  or  so  long  as  our  lives  may 
last,  no  ruthless  hand  shall  undermine  that  bright  arch  of 
Union  and  Liberty  which  spans  the  continent  from  Wash- 
ington to  California." 

Mr.  Webster's  standard  of  American  citizenship  was  high, 
and  he  had  a  just  notion  of  the  mental  and  moral  qualifica- 
tions necessary  to  fit  a  statesman  for  the  discharge  of  his 
duties  as  a  Representative  in  Congress.  He  was  unremit- 
ting in  his  endeavours  to  cultivate  his  great  intellectual 
faculties,  and  to  develop  his  latent  energies.  His  golden 
words  as  to  the  responsibility  of  an  American  citizen  should 
ever  be  held  in  remembrance  by  all  patriots : 

"  Let  us  cherish,  fellow-citizens,  a  deep  and  solemn  con- 
viction of  the  duties  which  have  devolved  upon  us.  This 
lovely  land,  this  glorious  liberty,  these  benign  institutions, 
the  dear  purchase  of  our  fathers,  are  ours  ;  ours  to  enjoy, 
ours  to  preserve,  ours  to  transmit.  Generations  past,  and 
generations  to  come,  hold  us  responsible  for  this  sacred  trust. 
Our  fathers,  from  behind,  admonish  us,  with  their  anxious 
paternal  voices  ;  posterity  calls  out  to  us,  from  the  bosom  of 
the  future  ;  the  world  turns  hither  its  solicitous  eyes — all, 
all  conjure  us  to  act  wisely,  and  faithfully,  in  the  relation 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  A  M  ERIC  A .  415 


which  we  sustain.  We  can  never,  indeed,  pay  the  debt 
which  is  upon  us;  but  by  virtue,  by  morality,  by  religion, 
by  the  cultivation  of  every  good  principle  and  every  good 
habit,  we  may  hope  to  enjoy  the  blessing,  through  our  day, 
and  to  leave  it  unimpaired  to  our  children.  Let  us  feel 
deeply  how  much  of  what  we  are  and  of  what  we  possess, 
we  owe  to  this  liberty,  and  these  institutions  of  government. 
Nature  has,  indeed,  given  us  a  soil,  which  yields  bounteously 
to  the  hands  of  industry  ;  the  mighty  and  fruitful  ocean  is  be- 
fore us,  and  the  skies  over  our  heads  shed  health  and  vigour. 
But  what  are  lands,  and  seas,  and  skies,  to  civilised  men, 
without  society,  without  knowledge,  without  morals,  without 
religious  culture ;  and  how  can  these  be  enjoyed,  in  all  their 
extent,  and  all  their  excellence,  but  under  the  protection  of 
wise  institutions  and  a  free  government  ?  Fellow-citizens, 
there  is  not  one  of  us,  there  is  not  one  of  us  here  present,  who 
does  not,  at  this  moment,  and  at  every  moment,  experience 
in  his  own  condition,  and  in  the  condition  of  those  most 
near  and  dear  to  him,  the  influence  and  the  benefit  of  this 
liberty  and  these  institutions.  Let  us  then  acknowledge 
the  blessing,  let  us  feel  it  deeply  and  powerfully  ;  let  us 
cherish  a  strong  affection  for  it,  and  resolve  to  maintain  and 
perpetuate  it.  The  blood  of  our  fathers — let  it  not  have 
been  shed  in  vain ;  the  great  hope  of  posterity — let  it  not 
be  blasted." 

On  the  23d  day  of  February,  1852,  Mr.  Webster  delivered, 
before  the  New  York  Historical  Society,  an  exceedingly 
interesting  and  instructive  address  from  which  we  take  the 
following  extract  which  deserves  careful  attention  : 

"  Unborn  ages  and  visions  of  glory  crowd  upon  my  soul, 
the  realisation  of  all  which,  however,  is  in  the  hands  and 
good  pleasure  of  Almighty  God  ;  but,  under  his  Divine  bless- 
ing, it  will  be  dependent  on  the  character  and  the  virtues  of 
ourselves  and  of  our  posterity.  If  classical  history  has 
been  found  to  be,  is  now,  and  shall  continue  to  be,  the  con- 
comitant of  free  institutions  and  of  popular  eloquence,  what 
a  field  is  opening  to  us  for  another  Herodotus,  another 
Thucydides,  and  another  Livy  ! 


41 6  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


"  And  let  me  say,  gentlemen,  that  if  we  and  our  posterity 
shall  be  true  to  the  Christian  religion, — if  we  and  they  shall 
live  always  in  the  fear  of  God,  and  shall  respect  his  com- 
mandments,— if  we  and  they  shall  maintain  just,  moral 
sentiments,  and  such  conscientious  convictions  of  duty  as 
shall  control  the  heart'  and  life,  we  may  have  the  highest 
hopes  of  the  future  fortunes  of  our  country  ;  and  if  we 
maintain  those  institutions  of  government  and  that  political 
union,  exceeding  all  praise  as  much  as  it  exceeds  all  former 
examples  of  political  associations,  we  may  be  sure  of  one 
thing — that,  while  our  country  furnishes  materials  for  a 
thousand  masters  of  the  historic  art,  it  will  afford  no  topic 
for  a  Gibbon.  It  will  have  no  Decline  and  Fall.  It  will  go 
on  prospering  and  to  prosper. 

"  But,  if  we  and  our  posterity  reject  religious  instruction 
and  authority,  violate  the  rules  of  eternal  justice,  trifle  with 
the  injunctions  of  morality,  and  recklessly  destroy  the  polit- 
ical constitution  which  holds  us  together,  no  man  can  tell 
how  sudden  a  catastrophe  may  overwhelm  us,  that  shall  bury 
all  our  glory  in  profound  obscurity.  Should  that  catastrophe 
happen,  let  it  have  no  history  !  Let  the  horrible  narrative 
never  be  written  !  Let  its  fate  be  like  that  of  the  lost  books 
of  Livy,  which  no  human  eye  shall  ever  read  ;  or  the  miss- 
ing Pleiad,  of  which  no  man  can  ever  know  more,  than  that 
it  is  lost,  and  lost  forever  ! 

"  But,  gentlemen,  I  will  not  take  my  leave  of  you  in  a  tone 
of  despondency.  We  may  trust  that  Heaven  will  not  for- 
sake us,  nor  permit  us  to  forsake  ourselves.  We  must 
strengthen  ourselves,  and  gird  up  our  loins  with  new  resolu- 
tion ;  we  must  counsel  each  other  ;  and,  determined  to  sus- 
tain each  other  in  the  support  of  the  Constitution,  prepare 
to  meet,  manfully,  and  united,  whatever  of  difficulty  or  of 
danger,  whatever  of  effort  or  of  sacrifice,  the  providence  of 
God  may  call  upon  us  to  meet. 

"  Are  we  of  this  generation  so  derelict,  have  we  so  little 
of  the  blood  of  our  revolutionary  fathers  coursing  through 
our  veins,  that  we  cannot  preserve  what  they  achieved  ?  The 
world  will  cry  out  '  SHAME '  upon  us,  if  we  show  ourselves 


ORATORY  IN  AMERICA.  417 


unworthy  to  be  the  descendants  of  those  great  and  illustrious 
men,  who  fought  for  their  liberty,  and  secured  it  to  their 
posterity,  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

"  Gentlemen,  inspiring  auspices,  this  day,  surround  us  and 
cheer  us.  It  is  the  anniversary  of  the  birth  of  Washington. 
We  should  know  this,  even  if  we  had  lost  our  calendars,  for 
we  should  be  reminded  of  it  by  the  shouts  of  joy  and  glad- 
ness. The  whole  atmosphere  is  redolent  of  his  name  ;  hills 
and  forests,  rocks  arid  rivers  echo  and  re-echo  his  praises. 
All  the  good,  whether  learned  or  unlearned,  high  or  low, 
rich  or  poor,  feel,  this  day,  that  there  is  one  treasure  com- 
mon to  them  all,  and  that  is  the  fame  and  character  of  Wash- 
ington. They  recount  his  deeds,  ponder  over  his  principles 
and  teachings,  and  resolve  to  be  more  and  more  guided  by 
them  in  the  future. 

"  To  the  old  and  the  young,  to  all  born  in  the  land,  and 
to  all  whose  love  of  liberty  has  brought  them  from  foreign 
shores  to  make  this  the  home  of  their  adoption,  the  name  of 
Washington  is  this  day  an  exhilarating  theme.  Americans 
by  birth  are  proud  of  his  character,  and  exiles  from  foreign 
shores  are  eager  to  participate  in  admiration  of  him  ;  and  it 
is  true  that  he  is,  this  day,  here,  everywhere,  all  the  world 
over,  more  an  object  of  love  and  regard  than  on  any  day 
since  his  birth. 

"  Gentlemen,  on  Washington's  principles,  and  under 
the  guidance  of  his  example,  will  we  and  our  children  up- 
hold the  Constitution.  Under  his  military  leadership  our 
fathers  conquered  ;  and  under  the  outspread  banner  of  his 
political  and  constitutional  principles  will  we  also  conquer. 
To  that  standard  we  shall  adhere,  and  uphold  it  through 
evil  report  and  through  good  report.  We  will  meet  danger, 
we  will  meet  death,  if  they  come,  in  its  protection  ;  and  we 
will  struggle  on,  in  daylight  and  in  darkness,  ay,  in  the 
thickest  darkness,  with  all  the  storms  which  it  may  bring 
with  it,  till 

'  Danger's  troubled  night  is  o'er 

And  the  star  of  Peace  return.' " 
27 


4 1 8  HIS  TOR  Y  OF  OR  A  TOR  Y. 


Mr.  Webster  died  on  the  quiet  Sabbath  morning  of  the 
24th  of  October,  1852. 

An  account  of  the  last  hours  of  Mr.  Webster  has  been 
given  by  an  able  speaker,  which  the  writer  will  quote : 

"  Among  the  many  memorable  words  which  fell  from  the 
lips  of  our  friend  just  before  they  were  closed  forever,  the 
most  remarkable  are  those  which  have  been  quoted  by  a 
previous  speaker :  '  /  still  live!  They  attest  the  serene 
composure  of  his  mind ;  the  Christian  heroism  with  which 
he  was  able  to  turn  his  consciousness  in  upon  himself,  and 
explore,  step  by  step,  the  dark  passage  (dark  to  us,  but  to 
him,  we  trust,  already  lighted  from  above)  which  connects 
this  world  with  the  world  to  come.  But  I  know  not  what 
words  could  have  been  better  chosen  to  express  his  relation 
to  the  world  he  was  leaving — '  I  still  live.'  This  poor  dust 
is  just  returning  to  the  dust  from  which  it  was  taken,  but  I 
feel  that  I  live  in  the  affections  of  the  people  to  whose  ser- 
vices I  have  consecrated  my  days.  '  I  still  live.'  The  icy 
hand  of  death  is  already  laid  on  my  heart,  but  I  shall  still 
live  in  those  words  of  counsel  which  I  have  uttered  to  my 
fellow-citizens,  and  which  I  now  leave  them  as  the  last  be- 
quest of  a  dying  friend. 

"  In  the  long  and  honoured  career  of  our  lamented  friend, 
there  are  efforts  and  triumphs  which  will  hereafter  fill  one  of 
the  brighest  pages  of  our  history.  But  I  greatly  err  if  the 
closing  scene — the  height  of  the  religious  sublime — does  not, 
in  the  judgment  of  other  days,  far  transcend  in  interest  the 
brightest  exploits  of  public  life.  Within  that  darkened 
chamber  at  Marshfield  was  witnessed  a  scene  of  which  we 
shall  not  readily  find  the  parallel. 

"  The  serenity  with  which  he  stood  in  the  presence  of 
the  King  of  Terrors,  without  trepidation  or  flutter,  for  hours 
and  days  of  expectation  ;  the  thoughtfulness  for  the  public 
business,  when  the  sands  were  so  nearly  run  out ;  the  hos- 
pitable care  for  the  reception  of  the  friends  who  came  to 
Marshfield  ;  that  affectionate  and  solemn  leave  separately 
taken,  name  by  name,  of  wife  and  children  and  kindred  and 
friends  and  family,  down  to  the  humblest  members  of  the 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  A  ME  RICA .  419 


household  ;  the  designation  of  the  coming  day,  then  near 
at  hand,  when  *  all  that  was  mortal  of  Daniel  Webster 
should  cease  to  exist !  '  the  dimly  recollected  strains  of  the 
funeral  poetry  of  Gray ;  the  last  faint  flash  of  the  soaring 
intellect ;  the  feebly  murmured  words  of  Holy  Writ  repeated 
from  the  lips  of  the  good  'physician,  who,  when  all  the 
resources  of  human  art  had  been  exhausted,  had  a  drop  of 
spiritual  balm  for  the  parting  soul ;  the  clasped  hands  ;  the 
dying  prayers.  Oh !  my  fellow  citizens,  this  is  a  consumma- 
tion over  which  tears  of  pious  sympathy  will  be  shed  ages 
after  the  glories  of  the  forum  and  the  senate  are  forgotten. 

*  His  sufferings  ended  with  the  day, 

Yet  lived  he  at  its  close  ; 
And  breathed  the  long,  long  night  away, 
In  statue-like  repose.' ' 

Mr.  Webster  was  very  fond  of  the  study  of  geology, 
astronomy,  and  the  classics.  One  of  his  biographers  says : 
"  At  one  time,  while  conversing  on  the  subject  of  reading, 
and  of  topics  worth  the  attention  of  men,  he  said  he  wished 
he  could  live  three  lives,  while  living  this : 

u  One  he -would  devote  to  the  study  of  Geology,  or,  to  use 
his  own  words,  '  to  reading  the  earth's  history  of  itself.' 

"  Another  life  he  would  devote  to  Astronomy  ;  he  said  he 
had  lately  been  reading  the  history  of  that  science,  written 
so  clearly,  that  he,  although  no  mathematician,  could  under- 
stand it,  and  he  was  astonished  at  seeing  to  what  heights  it 
had  been  pushed  by  modern  intellects. 

"  The  other  life  he  would  devote  to  the  Classics." 

The  following  is  an  interesting  account  of  the  reception  of 
Mr.  Webster,  and  of  the  effect  of  one  of  his  speeches  on  a 
popular  assembly  in  New  Hampshire,  given  by  a  stranger 
who  happened  to  be  present  : 

"  At  early  candle-light  he  went  to  the  caucus  room  ;  it  was 
filled  to  overflowing,  but  some  persons,  seeing  that  he  was  a 
stranger,  gave  way,  and  he  found  a  convenient  place  to 
stand ;  no  one  could  sit.  A  tremendous  noise  soon  an- 
nounced that  the  orator  had  arrived  ;  but  as  soon  as  the 


420  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


meeting  was  organised,  another  arose  to  make  some  remarks 
on  the  object  of  the  caucus  ;  he  was  heard  with  a  polite 
apathy ;  another  and  another  came,  and  all  spoke  well,  but 
this  would  not  do,  and  if  Chatham  had  been  among  them, 
or  St.  Paul,  they  would  not  have  met  the  expectations  of 
the  multitude.  The  beloved  orator  at  length  arose,  and  was 
for  a  while  musing  upon  something  which  was  drowned  by 
a  constant  cheering ;  but  when  order  was  restored  he  went 
on,  with  great  serenity  and  ease,  to  make  his  remarks  with- 
out apparently  making  the  slightest  attempt  to  gain  ap- 
plause. The  audience  was  still,  except  now  and  then  a 
murmur  of  delight  which  showed  that  the  great  mass  of  the 
hearers  were  ready  to  burst  into  a  thunder  of  applause,  if 
those  who  generally  set  the  example  would  have  given  an  in- 
timation that  it  might  have  been  done  ;  but  they,  devouring 
every  word,  made  signs  to  prevent  any  interruption.  The 
harangue  was  ended  ;  the  roar  of  applause  lasted  long,  and 
was  sincere  and  heartfelt.  It  was  a  strong,  gentlemanly,  and 
appropriate  speech,  but  not  a  particle  of  the  demagogue 
about  it ;  nothing  like  the  speeches  on  the  hustings  to  catch 
attention.  He  drew  a  picture  of  the  candidates  on  both 
sides  of  the  question,  and  proved,  as  far  as  reason  could 
prove,  the  superiority  of  those  of  his  own  choice ;  but  the 
gentleman  traveller,  who  was  a  very  good  judge,  has  often 
said  that  the  most  extraordinary  part  of  it  was,  that  a  pro- 
miscuous audience  should  have  had  good  sense  enough  to 
relish  such  sound;  good  reasoning  in  a  place  where  vague 
declamation  is  best  received." 

The  traveller  pursued  his  journey  toward  the  east,  but  to 
his  great  surprise  the  speech  of  Webster  had  preceded  him, 
and  was  the  common  theme  of  conversation  in  every  hotel 
and  other  public  place. 

The  following  picture  of  Mr.  Webster  is  well  drawn  : 
"  The  person  of  Mr.  Webster  is  singular  and  commanding ; 
his  height  is  above  the  ordinary  size,  but  he  cannot  be  called 
tall ;  he  is  broad  across  the  chest,  and  stoutly  and  firmly  built, 
but  there  is  nothing  of  clumsiness  either  in  his  form  or  gait. 
His  head  is  very  large,  his  forehead  high,  with  good  shaped 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  AMERICA.  42 1 


temples.  He  has  a  large,  black,  solemn-looking  eye  that 
exhibits  strength  and  steadfastness,  and  which  sometimes 
burns  but  seldom  sparkles.  His  hair  is  of  a  raven  black,  and 
both  thick  and  short,  without  the  mark  of  a  grey  hair.  His 
eyebrows  are  of  the  same  colour,  thick  and  strongly  marked, 
which  gives  his  features  the  appearance  of  sternness ;  but 
the  general  expression  of  his  face,  after  it  is  properly  exam- 
ined, is  rather  mild  and  amiable  than  otherwise.  His  move- 
ments in  the  house  and  in  the  street  are  slow  and  dignified  ; 
there  is  no  peculiar  sweetness  in  his  voice,  its  tones  are 
rather  harsh  than  musical,  still  there  is  a  great  variety  in 
them,  and  some  of  them  catch  the  ear  and  chain  it  down  to 
the  most  perfect  attention.  He  bears  traces  of  great  mental 
labour,  but  no  marks  of  age  ;  in  fact,  his  person  is  more 
imposing  now,  in  his  forty-eighth  year,  than  it  was  at  thirty 
years  of  age." 

A  talented  English  writer  who  saw  Mr.  Webster  in  London 
in  1839  gives  the  following  portrait  of  the  great  statesman : 

"  Mr.  Webster's  personal  appearance  is  particularly  striking. 
He  has  a  very  large,  massive  head  ;  his  forehead  is,  I  think, 
the  most  ample  in  its  proportions  of  all  the  foreheads  I  have 
ever  witnessed.  It  is  remarkably  striking  on  various  accounts. 
It  is,  first  of  all,  exceedingly  broad  ;  and,  though  of  a  sloping 
or  receding  shape  towards  the  summit,  it  prominently  pro- 
trudes at  the  eyebrows.  A  little  above  the  eyes  it  is  quite 
flat.  The  level  part  is  the  more  observable,  from  the  circum- 
stance of  its  being  so  full  in  all  other  places.  Its  unusual 
loftiness  is  displayed  to  greater  advantage  owing  to  the  com- 
parative absence  of  hair  in  the  front.  Let  no  one  infer  from 
this  that  Mr.  Webster  is  bald-headed  ;  he  is  nothing  of  the 
kind  ;  he  has  as  '  fine  a  head  of  hair/  to  use  the  favourite 
phraseology  of  perruquiers,  as  the  great  admirers  of  that 
commodity  could  wish  to  possess.  It  is  of  a  jet-black  hue  if 
seen  some  yards  distant,  but  a  nearer  inspection  will  discern 
an  incipient  darkish  grey  in  some  of  its  tufts.  It  is  carelessly 
arranged  on  the  learned  gentleman's  head.  .  .  .  Mr. 
Webster's  head,  large  as  it  is  in  every  department,  has  a 
peculiarly  full  development  in  the  locality  of  the  temples. 


422  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


His  eyebrows  are  quite  black  ;  and,  between  their  extra- 
ordinary size  and  the  amazing  quantity  of  hair  on  them,  are 
perhaps  the  most  prominent  ever  seen  on  the  face  either  of 
an  Englishman  or  a  native  of  the  United  States.  They 
overlap  the  eyes  (which,  I  should  observe,  are  unusually 
deeply  set)  in  a  very  marked  manner.  Mr.  Webster's  large 
dark  eyes  are  full  of  expression.  His  features  are  generally 
prominent,  but  his  nose  is  particularly  so,  in  consequence  of 
its  narrow  ridge  and  aquiline  conformation.  His  face  has  a 
copper  complexion  ;  and  though  Mr.  Webster  is  a  man  who 
has  performed  herculean  labours  for  many  years  past,  both 
at  the  bar  and  in  the  senate,  there  is  not  on  it  the  slightest 
appearance  of  wrinkles,  nor  any  other  indication  of  anxiety 
or  over-exertion.  His  countenance  has  a  fresh  and  healthful 
appearance  ;  its  habitual  expression  is  that  of  thoughtfulness; 
at  times  it  would  indicate  a  reserve  amounting  to  taciturnity. 
It  is  in  other  respects  in  perfect  accordance  with  what  we 
know  to  be  the  leading  attributes  of  his  mental  character. 
No  one  could  look  on  the  countenance  of  Daniel  Webster 
without  coming  to  the  conclusion  that  he  is  a  man  of  great 
energy  of  mind,  and  of  indomitable  moral  courage — a  person 
whom  no  power  in  the  world  could  dismay — a  man  who  is 
not  to  be  diverted  from  his  purpose  by  any  earthly  consider- 
ation. And  in  happy  keeping  with  his  mental  decision  is  his 
outward  frame.  Though  not  above  the  ordinary  height,  he 
is  evidently  a  man  of  great  muscular  power ;  he  is  broad  and 
firmly  built,  especially  about  the  shoulders.  His  frame  alto- 
gether'-has  an  unusual  appearance  of  robustness  about  it. 
He  is  such  a  man  as  would,  had  his  destiny  placed  him  in  the 
humbler  ranks  of  life,  been  singled  out  from  a  hundred  others 
for  his  assumed  capabilities  for  performing  hard  manual 
labour.  .  .  .  His  appearance  and  manners  are  plain.  He 
has  more  the  aspect  of  a  farmer  living  in  the  country  than  of 
one  whose  time  is  principally  spent  among  judges,  lawyers, 
legislators,  and  the  commercial  aristocrats  of  the  leading 
cities  of  the  United  States.  He  wears  a  brown  coat  with  a 
velvet  collar,  a  buff  waistcoat,  dark  small-clothes,  and  Wel- 
lington boots." 


ORATORY  IN  AMERICA.  423 


When  Mr.  Webster  arose  to  address  the  Senate  the  de- 
scription given  by  Milton  of  one  of  his  characters  could  have 
been  fittingly  applied  to  him  : 

"  With  grave 

Aspect  he  rose,  and  in  his  rising  seemed 
A  pillar  of  state  ;  deep  on  his  front  engraven 

Deliberation  sat,  and  public  care 

His  look 

Drew  audience  and  attention  still  as  night 
Or  summer's  noontide  air." 

It  may  be  of  interest  to  young  men  desirous  of  studying 
Mr.  Webster's  methods  of  preparing  his  speeches  to  know 
that  he  did  not  depend  altogether  upon  the  inspiration  of 
the  moment  for  the  language  or  the  thoughts  which  he 
meant  to  use.  The  impression  has  been  current  that  his 
great  speeches  were  unstudied.  He  said  on  one  occasion 
that  he  would  as  soon  think  of  appearing  before  an  audience 
half-clothed  as  half-prepared,  and  at  another  time  he  told 
one  of  his  friends  that  he  would  as  soon  stand  up  and  tell 
his  audience  that  he  had  garments  enough  at  home,  but  did 
not  think  it  worth  while  to  put  them  on,  as  to  tell  them  that 
he  could  have  made  a  satisfactory  speech,  perhaps,  if  he  had 
taken  the  requisite  pains.  Mr.  Webster  was  always  a  labori- 
ous student,  and  in  the  early  part  of  his  career  he  expended 
much  time  in  the  preparation  of  his  public  addresses. 

An  entertaining  writer,  General  Lyman,  says  :  "  He  hap- 
pened to  be  dining  with  a  company  of  friends  a  few  years 
since,  when  the  first  message  of  an  eminent  public  man,  then 
Governor  of  the  State  of  New  York,  was  issued  and  became 

the  subject  of  conversation.  *  Governor  W ,'  said  Mr. 

Webster,  on  being  appealed  to  for  his  opinion, '  is  a  very  able 
man  and  a  very  able  writer — the  only  thing  he  needs  to  learn 
is  how  to  scratch  out'  A  Senator  of  the  United  States  ex- 
pressed some  surprise  at  this  remark,  and  said  that  no  one 
who  read  Mr.  Webster's  addresses,  or  listened  to  his  speeches, 
could  suppose  that  he  ever  had  occasion  to  alter  or  amend  any- 
thing that  came  from  his  pen.  '  However  that  may  be  now/ 


424  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


replied  Mr.  Webster,  '  a  very  large  part  of  my  life  has  been 
spent  in  "scratching  out."  When  I  was  a  young  man,  and 
for  some  years  after  I  had  acquired  a  respectable  degree  of 
eminence  in  my  profession,  my  style  was  bombastic  and 
pompous  in  the  extreme.  Some  kind  friend  was  good 
enough  to  point  out  that  fact  to  me,  and  I  determined  to 
correct  it,  if  labour  could  do  it.  Whether  it  has  been  cor- 
rected or  not,  no  small  part  of  my  life  has  been  spent  in  the 
attempt.'  ' 

Clay.— "I  would  rather  be  right  than  be  President." 
The  utterance  of  these  words  alone  would  have  immortalised 
the  subject  of  this  sketch.  Henry  Clay  was  born  in  Han- 
over County,  Virginia,  on  the  I2th  day  of  April,  1/77.  He 
was  the  son  of  John  Clay,  a  Baptist  minister,  poor  but 
highly  respected.  Mr.  Clay's  father  died  when  he  was  four 
years  old,  leaving  a  widow  and  eight  children.  Clay's  mother 
was  affectionate,  devoted,  intelligent,  and  heroic,  and  by  care- 
fully husbanding  her  small  resources  she  succeeded  in  sending 
Clay  to  school.  The  teacher,  to  whom  Clay  was  sent,  Peter 
Deacon,  was  more  noted  for  his  love  of  liquor  than  his  love 
of  learning,  but  if  he  did  not  teach  his  pupils  very  much,  he 
did  thrash  the  most  of  them  soundly  on  the  slightest  provo- 
cation, and  about  the  only  thing  which  Clay  remembered 
after  he  left  Mr.  Deacon's  school  was  the  severe  drubbings 
which  that  gentleman  had  from  time  to  time  given  him. 

Clay,  when  he  had  nothing  else  to  do,  after  his  graduation 
from  the  seat  of  learning  presided  over  by  the  irascible  Mr. 
Deacon,  spent  his  time  in  going  to  mill,  mounted  on  a  horse 
without  a  saddle,  guided  by  a  rope  bridle,  with  a  bag  of  corn 
or  meal  to  sit  on  ;  ploughing,  chopping  wood,  and  other 
light  and  enjoyable  work  of  a  similar  character.  His  neigh- 
bours called  him  "  the  mill-boy  of  the  Slashes,"  and  when  in 
after  years  the  great  man  was  nominated  for  the  presidency 
the  nickname  became  a  term  of  endearment  to  his  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  enthusiastic  admirers  and  supporters. 

Having  early  in  life  been  compelled  to  buffet  continually 
the  storms  of  adverse  fortune,  he  always  sympathised  warmly 
with  the  poor  in  their  privations. 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  A  M ERIC  A .  42  5 


Clay's  friends  succeeded  in  getting  a  position  for  him  in 
the  office  of  the  Clerk  of  the  High  Court  of  Chancery  in 
Richmond,  Va.  While  in  the  office  Clay  became  acquainted 
with  Hon.  George  Wythe,  then  the  Chancellor  of  the  High 
Court  of  Chancery.  Mr.  Wythe  was  a  man  of  ability  and 
culture,  and  became  much  attached  to  Clay.  He  advised 
Clay  to  study  law,  and  selected  him  as  his  amanuensis  in 
writing  out  his  official  decisions.  Clay  and  his  patron  spent 
much  of  their  time  together.  Mr.  Wythe  directed  Clay's 
grammatical,  legal,  and  historical  studies. 

While  in  the  Clerk's  office,  Clay  became  acquainted  with 
the  most  distinguished  men  in  the  State,  and  attracted  their 
attention  strongly  by  his  talents  and  amiable  qualities. 

After  studying  law  for  one  year  he  was  admitted  to  the 
bar.  He  removed  soon  after  to  Lexington,  Ky.,  where  he 
resided  till  his  death.  When  Mr.  Clay  entered  on  the  duties 
of  his  profession  at  Lexington,  his  prospects  were  not  very 
flattering.  Afterward,  referring  to  this  period  of  his  life,  he 
said  :  "  I  was  without  patrons,  without  friends,  and  destitute 
of  the  means  of  paying  my  weekly  board.  I  remember  how 
comfortable  I  thought  I  should  be  if  I  could  make  ;£ioo 
Virginia  money,  per  annum,  and  with  what  delight  I  received 
the  first  fifteen-shilling  fee.  My  hopes  were  more  than 
realised  ;  I  immediately  rushed  into  a  lucrative  practice." 

As  a  lawyer  and  as  a  politician  Mr.  Clay  was  justly  cele- 
brated for  his  tact.  He  was  perfectly  familiar  with  the 
manners  and  customs  of  the  farmers,  mechanics,  and  labour- 
ers, and  always  had  a  pleasant  word  for  them,  not 
because  he  hoped  to  be  benefited  by  them,  but  because  he 
loved  them  sincerely,  devotedly,  and  hoped  to  aid  them  by 
the  passage  of  beneficent  legislative  measures,  and  by  the 
improvement  of  their  respective  conditions.  Mr.  Clay  was 
a  warm-hearted  philanthropist,  and  his  life  was  spent  in 
continual  labour  for  the  public  welfare.  He  knew  how  to 
win  the  affections  of  the  people,  by  entering  into  their 
sports  and  pastimes  as  well  as  by  taking  an  interest  in  their 
occupations  and  business  pursuits. 

An  incident  is  related  by  one  of  his  biographers  which 


426  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


illustrates  his  tact  in  seizing  and  turning  to  good  account 
circumstances  comparatively  trivial :  "  He  had  been  engaged 
in  speaking  some  time,  when  a  company  of  riflemen  who 
had  been  performing  military  exercise,  attracted  by  his  atti- 
tude, concluded  to  go  and  hear  what  that  fellow  had  to  say, 
as  they  termed  it,  and  accordingly  drew  near.  They  listened 
with  respectful  attention  and  evidently  with  deep  interest 
until  he  closed,  when  one  of  their  number,  a  man  about  fifty 
years  of  age,  who  had  evidently  seen  much  backwoods  ser- 
vice, stood  leaning  on  his  rifle,  regarding  the  young  speaker 
with  a  fixed  and  most  sagacious  look.  He  was  apparently 
the  Nimrod  of  the  company,  for  he  exhibited  every  charac- 
teristic of  a  mighty  hunter, — buckskin  breeches  and  hunting 
shirt,  coon-skin  cap,  black,  bushy  beard,  and  a  visage  which, 
had  it  been  in  juxtaposition  with  his  leathern  bullet-pouch, 
might  have  been  taken  for  part  and  parcel  of  the  same.  At 
his  belt  hung  the  knife  and  hatchet,  and  the  huge  indispen- 
sable powder-horn  across  a  breast  bare  and  brown  as  the 
bleak  hills  he  often  traversed,  yet  which  concealed  as  brave 
and  noble  a  heart  as  ever  beat  beneath  a  fairer  covering. 
He  beckoned  with  his  hand  to  Mr.  Clay  to  approach  him, 
who  immediately  complied.  '  Young  man/  said  he,  t  you 
want  to  go  to  the  legislature,  I  see  ? '  *  Why,  yes/  replied 
Mr.  Clay,  '  yes,  I  should  like  to  go,  since  my  friends  have 
seen  proper  to  put  me  up  as  a  candidate  before  the  people ; 
I  do  not  wish  to  be  defeated/ — 'Are  you  a  good  shot?' 
— '  The  best  in  the  county/ — *  Then  you  shall  go  ;  but  you 
must  give  us  a  specimen  of  your  skill ;  we  must  see  you 
shoot/ — '  I  never  shoot  any  rifle  but  my  own,  and  that  is  at 
home/ — '  No  matter,  here  is  old  Bess,  she  never  fails  in  the 
hands  of  a  marksman ;  she  has  often  sent  death  through  a 
squirrel's  head  at  one  hundred  yards,  and  daylight  through 
many  a  redskin  twice  that  distance ;  if  you  can  shoot  any 
gun  you  can  shoot  old  Bess.'  '  Well,  put  up  your  mark, 
put  up  your  mark/  replied  Mr.  Clay.  The  target  was  placed 
at  a  distance  of  about  eighty  yards,  when,  with  all  the 
steadiness  of  an  old,  experienced  marksman,  he  drew  old 
Bess  to  his  shoulder  and  fired.  The  bullet  pierced  the 


ORATORY  IN  AMERICA.  427 


target  near  the  centre.  '  Oh,  a  chance  shot !  a  chance  shot ! ' 
exclaimed  several  of  his  political  opponents.  'A  chance 
shot !  He  might  shoot  all  day  and  not  hit  the  mark  again  ; 
let  him  try  it  over,  let  him  try  it  over.'  *  No,  beat  that,  beat 
that,  and  then  I  will,'  retorted  Mr.  Clay.  But  as  no  one 
seemed  disposed  to  make  the  attempt,  it  was  considered 
that  he  had  given  satisfactory  proof  of  being  the  best  shot 
in  the  county ;  and  this  unimportant  incident  gained  him 
the  vote,  which  was  composed  principally  of  that  class  of 
persons,  as  well  as  the  support  of  the  same  throughout  the 
county." 

Another  instance  similar  to  the  above  has  been  related  of 
Mr.  Clay.  While  a  candidate  he  met  an  old  hunter  who 
had  previously  been  one  of  his  warm  supporters,  but  who 
now  opposed  him  on  account  of  his  action  on  the  Com- 
pensation Bill.  "  Have  you  a  good  rifle,  my  friend  ? " 
asked  Mr.  Clay.— "  Yes."— "  Does  it  ever  flash?"— "  Once 
only." — "  What  did  you  do  with  it,  throw  it  away  ?  " — "  No, 
I  picked  the  flint,  tried  again,  and  brought  down  the  game." — 
"  Have  I  ever  flashed  but  on  the  Compensation  Bill  ?  " — "  No." 
— "  Will  you  throw  me  away  ?  "  "  No  !  no  !  "  quickly  replied 
the  hunter,  nearly  overwhelmed  by  his  enthusiastic  feelings  ; 
"  /  will  pick  the  flint  and  try  you  again  !  "  Ever  after  he 
was  the  unwavering  supporter  and  friend  of  Mr.  Clay. 

While  Mr.  Clay  was  dining  at  Lord  Castlereagh's  in  Lon- 
don, with  several  other  distinguished  Americans,  the  British 
Commissioners,  and  some  of  the  British  ministers,  directly 
after  the  battle  of  Waterloo,  and  while  the  country  was  filled 
with  rejoicings  for  the  victory,  it  was  suggested  at  table 
that,  as  it  was  not  known  where  Napoleon  was,  he  might 
possibly  flee  to  America  for  an  asylum.  "  Will  he  not  give 
you  some  trouble  if  he  goes  there  ?  "  said  Lord  Liverpool 
to  Mr.  Clay.  "  Not  the  least,  my  lord,"  said  Mr.  Clay.  "  We 
shall  be  very  glad  to  see  him,  will  entertain  him  with  all  due 
rites  of  hospitality,  and  soon  make  him  a  good  democrat." 

Mr.  Clay's  opponents  often  ascertained,  to  their  cost,  that 
he  could  be  witty,  sarcastic,  ironical,  and  satirical,  but  he 
usually  resorted  to  these  weapons  for  purposes  of  defending 


428  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


himself  against  unjust  attacks,  and  was  not  often,  himself, 
the  aggressor. 

Soon  after  his  entrance  into  the  United  States  Senate  he 
made  his  first  speech  on  internal  improvements.  His  speech 
did  not  suit  an  elderly  member  who  had  more  presumption 
than  sagacity.  As  he  was  much  Mr.  Clay's  senior,  he  at- 
tempted to  prove  him  guilty  of  being  a  young  man,  and,  with 
ludicrously  affected  airs  of  superior  wisdom,  attacked  him 
with  that  intent,  advising  him  to  modesty  corresponding 
with  his  years.  Mr.  Clay,  in  his  reply,  quoted  the  follow- 
ing lines : 

"  Thus  have  I  seen  a  magpie  in  the  street, 
A  chattering  bird  we  often  meet, 
With  head  awry  and  cunning  eye, 
Peep  knowingly  into  a  marrow-bone." 

It  is  said  that  the  application  of  the  manners  of  the  magpie 
to  those  of  the  reverend  Senator  was  so  just  that  it  was  im- 
mediately perceived  by  the  Senate,  and  excited  much  and 
hearty  laughter.  The  supercilious  critic  after  this  encounter 
gave  Mr.  Clay  no  further  trouble. 

A  public  dinner  was  given  to  Mr.  Clay  after  his  return 
from  Ghent,  by  his  friends  at  Lexington,  when  "  the  nego- 
tiators of  Ghent  "  were  toasted,  in  whose  behalf  Mr.  Clay 
made  a  pertinent  speech.  But  when  the  last  toast  was 
read — "  Our  guest,  Henry  Clay:  we  welcome  his  return 
to  that  country  whose  rights  and  interests  he  has  so  ably 
maintained,  at  home  and  abroad," — his  feelings  were  deeply 
affected,  and  he  made  the  following  brief  but  witty  reply 
with  great  difficulty  : 

"  My  friends,  I  must  again  thank  you  for  your  kind  and 
affectionate  attention.  My  reception  has  been  more  like 
that  of  a  brother  than  a  common  friend  or  acquaintance, 
and  I  am  utterly  incapable  of  finding  words  to  express 
my  gratitude.  My  situation  is  like  that  of  a  Swedish  gen- 
tleman at  a  dinner  given  in  England  by  the  Society  of 
Friends  of  Foreigners  in  Distress.  A  toast  having  been 
given,  complimentary  to  his  country,  it  was  expected,  as 


ORATORY  IN  AMERICA.  429 


is  usual  on  such  occasions,  that  he  would  rise  and  address 
the  company.  The  gentleman,  not  understanding  the  Eng- 
lish language,  rose  under  great  embarrassment,  and  said : 
'  Sir,  I  wish  you  to  consider  me  a  foreigner  in  distress!  I 
wish  you,  gentlemen,  to  consider  me  a  friend  in  distress." 

A  certain  member  of  Congress  noted  for  his  long,  dry 
speeches,  on  one  occasion,  in  Committee  of  the  Whole,  hav- 
ing bored  the  members  more  than  usual,  said  to  Mr.  Clay, 
who  sat  near  him,  in  a  low  voice,  while  pausing  for  a  fresh 
start  :  "  You  speak  for  the  present  generation,  I  speak  for 
posterity."  "  Yes/'  replied  Mr.  Clay,  "  and  you  seem  re- 
solved to  continue  speaking  till  your  audience  arrives." 

It  is  well  known  that  Mr.  Clay  was  accused  by  General 
Jackson  and  his  friends  of  unnecessarily  defending  himself 
against  the  charge  of  bargain  in  the  election  of  Mr.  Adams, 
and  that  he  attempted  to  create  a  sympathy  for  himself  by 
his  repeated  appeals  to  the  public.  Of  course  the  accusation 
was  not  well  founded,  for  it  was  unreasonable  that  he  should 
have  started  a  subject  of  that  character  under  the  circum- 
stances. Mr.  Clay,  in  a  speech  at  Cincinnati,  in  1828,  said  : 
"  My  traducers  have  attributed  to  me  great  facility  in  making 
a  bargain.  Whether  I  possess  it,  or  not,  there  is  one  bar- 
gain which,  for  their  accommodation,  I  am  willing  to  enter 
into  with  them.  If  they  will  prevail  upon  their  chief  to  ac- 
knowledge that  he  has  been  in  error,  and  has  done  me  injus- 
tice, and  if  they  will  cease  to  traduce  and  abuse  me,  I  will 
no  longer  present  myself  before  public  assemblies,  or  in 
public  prints,  in  my  own  defence.  That  is  a  bargain,  how- 
ever, which  I  have  no  expectation  of  being  able  to  conclude  ; 
for  men  who  are  in  a  long-established  line  of  business  will 
not  voluntarily  quit  their  accustomed  trade  and  acknowledge 
themselves  bankrupts  to  honour,  decency,  and  truth." 

In  support  of  a  pension  bill  before  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, Mr.  Lincoln,  of  Maine,  broke  out  into  a  rhapso- 
dical apostrophe — indicative  certainly  of  good  feeling — and 
said:  "Soldiers  of  the  Revolution!  live  for  ever!"  Mr. 
Clay,  not  less  zealous  in  so  good  a  cause,  could  not,  how- 
ever, resist  the  temptation  to  say  :  "  I  hope  my  worthy 


430  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


friend  will  consent  to  a  compromise  of  '  forever  '  to  nine 
hundred  and  ninety-nine  years." 

Replying  to  Mr.  Calhoun's  notions  of  free  trade,  March 
22,  1832,  in  the  Senate,  Mr.  Clay  said  :  "  Yet  still  he  [Mr.  Cal- 
houn]  clings  to  his  free-trade  doctrine,  though  it  has  proved 
so  ruinous  to  his  own  State,  and  to  Southern  interests,  as 
well  as  to  Northern  ;  to  that  free  trade  which  has  depressed 
the  price  of  cotton  to  a  point  below  what  it  has  ever  brought 
since  the  close  of  the  last  war.  In  spite  of  all  the  teachings 
of  experience,  as  well  in  his  own,  as  in  all  other  nations,  still 
he  deafens  us  with  the  cry  of  'free  trade  !  '  Really  the  case 
of  the  honourable  gentleman  is  without  any  parallel  that  I 
know  or  ever  heard  of,  unless  it  be  that  which  we  find  in  the 
immortal  work  of  Le  Sage.  Gil  Bias  was  engaged  in  medi- 
cal practice  with  the  far-famed  Dr.  Sangrado,  and  after 
having  gone  as  far  as  his  conscience  and  his  feelings  could 
at  all  endure,  he  came  at  last  to  the  Doctor  and  said  to  him : 
*  Sir,  your  system  won't  do.  I  have  been  bleeding  and  ad- 
ministering warm  water  with  unflinching  resolution,  and  the 
consequence  is — and  I  must  tell  you  frankly^-all  our'patients 
— nobles,  gentlemen,  bourgeois,  men,  women,  and  children- 
all,  all  are  dying  !  I  propose  to  change  the  system.'  '  What ! ' 
said  the  astonished  Sangrado,  '  change  our  system  ?  change 
our  system  ?  Why,  sir,  do  you  not  know  that  I  have  writ- 
ten a  BOOK,  and  that  I  must  preserve  my  CONSISTENCY  ? 
Yes  ;  and  sooner  than  change  my  system,  or  write  another 
book  to  prove  it  false,  let  nobles,  gentlemen,  bourgeois,  men, 
women,  and  children,  and  all,  go  to  —  -  I  will  not  say 
where.'  The  honourable  Senator  seems  to  act  on  the  self- 
same plan.  Instead  of  recommending  hot  water  and  bleed- 
ing, he  recommends  free  trade ;  and  though  he  sees,  from 
year  to  year,  that  his  prescriptions  are  killing  all  his  patients, 
he  spurns  the  idea  of  changing  his  system,  because  he  must 
preserve  his  CONSISTENCY  !  " 

Mr.  Clay  died  on  the  2Qth  of  June,  1852.  Tributes  of  re- 
spect from  all  classes  of  men  were  offered  to  his  memory. 
Henry  Clay  was,  by  universal  acknowledgment,  not  only  one 
of  the  greatest  men  in  this  country,  but  of  the  age  in  which 


ORATORY  IN  AMERICA,  43! 


he  lived,  and,  happily,  his  moral  were  not  inferior  to  his 
mental  endowments. 

It  is  usual  to  find  persons  who  are  highly  distinguished 
in  particular  walks — in  the  forum,  the  senate,  and  the 
cabinet,  but  a  character  pre-eminent  in  them  all  constitutes 
a  prodigy  of  human  greatness.  Yet  such  a  character  was 
Mr.  Clay.  The  versatility  of  his  powers  was  as  remarkable 
as  their  strength.  As  a  statesman  his  resources  were  inex- 
haustible, and  his  powers  transcendent.  His  ability  and 
eloquence  at  the  bar  were  at  once  the  delight  and  astonish- 
ment of  his  countrymen. 

Attainments  so  extensive,  multifarious,  and  lofty,  with 
endowments  so  brilliant,  have  but  rarely  fallen  to  the  portion 
of  man. 

Mr.  Clay  was  singularly  free  from  the  irregularities  and 
vices  which  sometimes  follow  in  the  train  of  greatness.  The 
welfare  of  his  country  was  the  idol  of  his  affections.  He 
was  orderly,  temperate,  and  methodical.  Before  acting,  he 
bestowed  on  his  subject  all  the  attention  that  would  have 
been  given  it  by  a  man  of  ordinary  ability.  He  studied  it 
with  patience  till  he  thoroughly  understood  it.  The  reader 
will  come  to  the  conclusion  from  this  description  of  him, 
that  his  greatness  was  achieved,  and  not  "  thrust  upon  him.'* 
Such  was  Clay,  the  profound  statesman,  the  eloquent  orator, 
and  the  man  of  probity,  tried  and  spotless.  Mr.  Clay  was 
six  feet  and  one  inch  high,  and  rather  slender  ;  his  arms 
were  long,  but  his  hands  small.  In  standing,  talking,  or 
walking,  he  was  always  remarkably  erect.  His  head  was 
exceedingly  well-shaped.  His  mouth  was  very  large.  His 
eyes  were  expressive,  and  were  blue  in  colour.  His  nose 
was  prominent,  and  his  visage  spare.  His  forehead  was 
high  and  sloped  backward.  His  hair,  before  it  was  frosted 
by  age,  was  light.  His  person  was  well-formed  and  com- 
manding. 

Mr.  Clay's  manners  were  charming.  He  was  remarkably 
self-possessed,  and  always  at  ease  in  society.  He  was  noted 
for  his  affability,  his  dignity,  general  courtesy,  and  quick 
discernment  of  character.  He  captivated  the  plainest  peo- 


432  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


pie,  as  well  as  the  most  cultivated.  He  had  the  power  of 
accommodating  his  manners  to  the  dispositions  and  charac- 
ters of  all  persons  with  whom  he  came  in  contact. 

The  voice  of  Mr.  Clay  was  one  of  great  compass,  power, 
and  melody.  In  the  modulation  of  his  voice,  for  oratorical 
purposes,  Mr.  Clay  was  instructed  by  nature,  rather  than 
art.  His  voice  was  naturally  sweet  and  clear,  and  it  is  said 
that  spectators  in  the  galleries  of  the  Senate-chamber  have 
often  heard  his  voice  in  private  conversation  at  his  desk  be- 
low, while  another  Senator  was  making  a  speech.  This  suf- 
ficiently illustrates  the  penetrating  character  of  its  most 
common  colloquial  notes. 

The  following  sketch  of  Mr.  Clay  was  drawn  some  years 
before  his  death  : 

"  There  is  a  tall,  light-haired,  blue-eyed  individual,  sixty 
years  old  or  more,  who  occupies  a  seat  in  the  Senate  at  the 
Capitol.  He  has  not  what  would  be  called  a  handsome  face, 
but  one  of  the  liveliest,  or,  if  we  may  so  speak,  one  of  the 
most  looking  faces  that  ever  fronted  a  head.  It  is  because 
he  has  a  looking  organisation.  You  catch  not  him  asleep 
or  moping.  He  seems  to  see  everybody  that  comes  in,  or 
goes  out,  and  besides,  to  have  an  eye  on,  and  an  ear  for, 
whatever  honourable  Senator  may  occupy  the  field  of  de- 
bate. If  his  own  marked  political  game  is  on  foot,  he  is 
then  Nimrod,  a  mighty  hunter.  He  can  see  just  what  fis- 
sure of  inconsistency,  nook  of  sophism,  or  covert  of  rhetoric 
is  made  a  hiding-place.  At  the  right  moment,  he  aims  a 
rifle  pretty  sure  to  hit,  if  his  powder  is  good  ;  and  his  friends 
say  that  he  uses  the  best.  Grand  fun  it  is  to  stand  by  and 
see  this  keen  sportsman  crack  off,  and  especially  to  hear 
him  wind  *  the  mellow,  mellow  horn,'  which  his  mother  gave 
him  a  long  while  ago,  To  leave  our  hunting-ground  meta- 
phor for  the  plain  beaten  way,  this  individual  is  the  veteran 
statesman  from  Kentucky.  Now,  just  come  and  look  at  his 
head,  or  seek  his  portrait,  at  least.  You  will  see  how  his 
Perceptives  put  themselves  forth  in  front,  just  as  if  they 
were  reaching  after  their  objects,  as  it  were,  for  a  long  pull 
and  a  strong  pull,  to  fetch  them  into  keeping.  Then,  in 


ORATORY  IN  AMERICA.  433 


speech,  with  what  ease,  grace,  order,  and  effect,  he  can  fling 
forth  his  gatherings.  His  mind  has  been  developed  by  the 
exciting  circumstances  of  active  life,  rather  than  by  the 
speculations  of  *  quiet  books.'  Henry  Clay  is  therefore  a 
practical  man.  He  is  pre-eminently  perceptive.  He  knows 
the  whom,  the  what,  the  where,  the  when,  the  which  first, 
and  the  how  many,  as  well  perhaps  as  any  public  man  liv- 
ing. A  very  long  political  life  has  put  him  to  the  test.  We 
do  not  aver  that  he  never  made  mistakes,  or  that  he  is  po- 
litically and  positively  right ;  we  intimate,  moreover,  nothing 
to  the  contrary.  We  would  simply  convey  that,  of  all  the 
great  statesmen  of  our  country,  he  particularly  illustrates  the 
faculties  just  had  under  review  !  " 

The  following  remarks  of  Mr.  Underwood,  his  colleague, 
delivered  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  are  worthy  of 
insertion  here  : 

"  The  character  of  Henry  Clay  was  formed  and  developed 
by  the  influence  of  our  free  institutions.  His  physical  and 
mental  organisation  eminently  qualified  him  to  become  a 
great  and  impressive  orator.  His  person  was  tall,  slender, 
and  commanding.  His  temperament  ardent,  fearless,  and 
full  of  hope.  His  countenance  clear,  expressive,  and  varia- 
ble— indicating  the  emotion  which  predominated  at  the 
moment  with  exact  similitude.  His  voice,  cultivated  and 
modulated  in  harmony  with  the  sentiment  he  desired  to 
express,  fell  upon  the  ear  like  the  melody  of  enrapturing 
music.  His  eye  beaming  with  intelligence,  and  flashing  with 
coruscations  of  genius.  His  gestures  and  attitudes  graceful 
and  natural.  These  personal  advantages  won  the  prepos- 
sessions of  an  audience,  even  before  his  intellectual  powers 
began  to  move  his-  hearers  ;  and  when  his  strong  common- 
sense,  his  profound  reasoning,  his  clear  conception  of  his 
subject  in  all  its  bearings,  and  his  striking  and  beautiful 
illustrations,  united  with  such  personal  qualities,  were 
brought  to  the  discussion  of  any  question,  his  audience  was 
enraptured,  convinced,  and  led  by  the  orator  as  if  enchanted 
by  the  lyre  of  Orpheus. 

"  No  man  was  ever  blessed  by  his  Creator  with  faculties  of 

28 


434  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


a  higher  order  of  excellence  than  those  given  to  Mr.  Clay.  In 
the  quickness  of  his  perceptions,  and  the  rapidity  with  which 
his  conclusions  were  formed,  he  had  few  equals,  and  no  supe- 
rior. He  detected  in  a  moment  everything  out  of  place  or 
deficient  in  his  room,  upon  his  farm,  in  his  own,  or  the  dress 
of  others.  He  was  a  skilful  judge  of  the  forward  qualities 
of  his  domestic  animals,  which  he  delighted  to  raise  on  his 
farm.  I  could  give  you  instances  of  the  quickness  and  the 
minuteftess  of  his  keen  faculty  of  observation,  which  never 
overlooked  anything.  A  want  of  neatness  and  ocder  was 
offensive  to  him.  He  was  particular  and  neat  in  his  hand- 
writing, and  his  apparel.  A  slovenly  blot,  or  negligence  of 
any  sort,  met  his  condemnation  ;  while  he  was  so  organised 
that  he  attended  to  and  arranged  little  things  to  please  and 
gratify  his  natural  love  for  neatness,  order,  and  beauty,  his 
great  intellectual  faculties  grasped  all  the  subjects  of  juris- 
prudence and  politics  with  a  facility  amounting  almost  to  in- 
tuition. As  a  lawyer  he  stood  at  the  head  of  his  profession. 
As  a  statesman,  his  stand  at  the  head  of  the  Republican 
Whig  Party  for  nearly  half  a  century  establishes  his  title  to 
pre-eminence  among  his  illustrious  associates. 

"  Mr.  Clay  throughout  his  public  career,  was  influenced  by 
the  loftiest  patriotism.  Confident  in  the  truth  of  his  convic- 
tions and  the  purity  of  his  purposes,  he  was  ardent,  some- 
times impetuous,  in  the  pursuit  of  objects  which  he 
believed  essential  to  the  public  welfare.  His  sympathies 
embraced  all.  The  African  slave,  the  Creole  of  Spanish 
America,  the  children  of  renovated  classic  Greece — all  fami- 
lies of  men,  without  respect  to  colour  or  clime,  found  in  his 
expanded  bosom  and  comprehensive  intellect  a  friend  of 
their  elevation  and  amelioration. 

"  Bold  and  determined  as  Mr.  Clay  was  in  all  his  actions, 
he  was,  nevertheless,  conciliating.  He  did  not  obstinately 
adhere  to  things  impracticable.  If  he  could  not  accomplish  the 
best,  he  contented  himself  with  the  nighest  approach  to  it. 
He  has  been  the  great  compromiser  of  those  political  agita- 
tions and  opposing  opinions  which  have,  in  the  belief  of  thou- 
sands, at  different  times,  endangered  the  perpetuity  of  our 


ORA  TOR  Y  IN  AMERICA.  435 


Federal  Government  and  Union.  He  was  no  less  remarkable 
for  his  admirable  social  qualities  than  for  his  intellectual 
abilities.  As  a  companion  he  was  the  delight  of  his  friends, 
and  no  man  ever  had  better  or  truer.  They  have  loved  him 
from  the  beginning  and  loved  him  to  the  last.  His  hospit- 
able mansion  at  Ashland  was  always  open  to  their  reception. 
No  guest  ever  thence  departed  without  feeling  happier  for 
his  visit." 

The  following  remarks  by  Mr.  Colton,  upon  the  attributes 
of  Mr.  Clay's  oratory  cannot  fail  to  interest,  deeply,  a  student 
of  eloquence  :  "  But  the  attributes  of  Mr.  Clay's  eloquence 
extend  to  a  wider  range  than  that  of  voice.  His  person,  tall, 
erect,  commanding  ;  his  countenance,  as  well  as  his  voice, 
capable  of  expressing  every  feeling  and  passion  of  the  human 
soul,  pleasure  or  pain,  satisfaction  or  discontent,  hope  or  fear, 
desire  or  aversion,  complacency  or  contempt,  love  or  hatred, 
joy  or  grief,  ecstacy  or  anguish,  valour  or  cowardice,  kindness 
or  cruelty,  pity  or  revenge,  resolution  or  despair  ;  his  large 
mouth,  and  swollen  upper  lip,  working  quietly,  or  in  agony, 
as  occasions  require  ;  his  eye  resting  in  calmness,  or  beaming 
with  lively  emotion,  or  sparkling  with  strong  feeling,  or  flash- 
ing with  high  passion  like  the  thunderbolts  of  heaven  in  the 
darkness  of  the  storm  ;  his  arms,  now  hanging  easy  by  his 
side,  now  outstretched,  now  uplifted,  now  waving  with  grace, 
or  striking  with  the  vehemence  of  passion  ;  his  finger  pointing 
where  his  piercing  thoughts  direct ;  the  easy,  or  quiet,  or  vio- 
lent movements  of  his  whole  frame ;  the  bending  of  his  body 
forward,  or  sidewise,  or  backward  ;  the  downward  or  upward 
look  ;  the  composed  or  suffused  or  impassioned  countenance  ; 
the  watchful,  shifting  glances,  taking  in  the  field  of  vision, 
and  making  each  one  feel  that  he  is  seen  and  individually 
addressed  ;  the  theme  ;  himself ;  his  audiences  ;  his  fame  ; 
his  position  on  the  subject  in  debate  or  under  discussion ; 
his  relation  to  the  assembly  or  the  body  before  him  ;  the  re- 
spect and  esteem  in  which  he  is  held  by  them  ;  his  dignity, 
courtesy,  deference ;  his  disinterestedness,  his  philanthropy, 
his  patriotism  ; — all  these,  and  many  others  that  might  be 
named,  are  among  the  attributes  of  Mr.  Clay's  eloquence, 


436  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


and  appertain  to  that  accumulation  and  concentration  of  in- 
fluences which  have  given  his  popular  harangues,  his  forensic 
efforts,  his  various  public  addresses,  and  his  parliamentary 
speeches  so  much  power  over  the  minds,  the  hearts,  and 
the  actions  of  his  countrymen. 

"  Purity  of  diction  cannot  be  separated  from  the  attributes 
of  Mr.  Clay's  eloquence.  It  is  not  less  true  that  language, 
properly  selected  and  composed,  is  eloquent,  than  that  sen- 
timent and  passion  are ;  and  the  eloquence  of  passion  de- 
pends on  that  of  diction.  Passion  may  even  be  spoiled  by 
its  dress,  and  lose  all  its  force.  Purity  of  diction  is  to 
thought,  sentiment,  and  passion,  as  the  well-made  toilet  of  a 
lady  is  to  her  charms.  It  is  a  transparent  medium,  through 
which  the  observer  looks  into  the  soul,  and  beholds  all  its 
movements.  When  the  diction  is  pure,  all  occasions  of  criti- 
cism, as  to  dress  are  absent,  and  what  is  in  the  mind  and 
heart  of  the  speaker  passes  directly  into  the  mind  and  heart 
of  the  listener.  The  effect  of  pure  diction  is  the  same  on 
the  clown  as  on  the  scholar.  The  former  cannot  criticise,  if 
he  would  ;  the  latter  rejects  -his  prerogative;  and  both  are 
lost  in  satisfaction,  if  both  are  interested  in  the  subject,  and 
otherwise  equally  attracted.  But  if  the  language  were  not 
pure,  both  would  not  feel  it,  though  possibly  but  one  could 
point  out  the  defect  or  blemish.  Nature,  in  the  rudest  state, 
however,  is  often  endowed  with  the  highest  attributes  of 
criticism.  A  much  admired  painting  of  a  peasant  girl  feed- 
ing the  pigs  had  sustained  the  severest  scrutiny  of  connois- 
seurs, with  triumph;  but,  when  a  negro  slave,  used  to  that 
business,  looked  at  the  picture,  and  exclaimed,  *  Who  ever 
saw  pigs  feeding,  without  one  foot  in  the  trough  ? ' — the 
painting  was  thenceforth  good  for  nothing  !  The  best  test 
of  Mr.  Clay's  language,  both  in  colloquial  and  rhetorical  ap- 
plications, is,  that  it  is  suited  to  all  classes  of  persons. 

"  Faith  in  the  validity  and  sincerity  of  Mr.  Clay's  own  con- 
victions, arising  not  less  from  faith  in  his  general  character, 
than  from  the  artless  and  feeling  manner  of  his  utterance, 
carries  with  it  an  irresistible  influence.  All  who  hear  him 
are  fully  persuaded,  from  what  they  know  of  him,  and  by 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  AMERICA.  437 


his  manner,  that  he  himself  believes  what  he  says.  Their  sur- 
render of  opinion  and  feeling,  therefore,  or  their  acquies- 
cence, is  measured  only  by  their  will,  or  their  interest,  or 
their  confidence  in  his  judgment,  or  by  a  combination  of 
such  influences.  No  small  part  of  the  eloquence  of  Mr.  Clay 
lies  in  this  faith,  which  is  a  moral  band  between  him  and 
those  whom  he  addresses,  dissolving  in  a  common  crucible 
the  feelings  of  the  two  parties." 

Choate. — Rufus  Choate,  one  of  the  greatest  orators  and 
statesmen  this  country  has  produced,  was  born  in  Essex 
County,  Massachusetts,  on  the  1st  of  October,  1799. 

He  was  noted  while  at  school  for  his  close  application  to 
study  and  for  his  extraordinary  powers  of  memory.  He 
graduated  at  Dartmouth  College  in  1819.  He  began  the 
study  of  law  at  Cambridge,  and  afterward  entered  the  office 
of  the  celebrated  William  Wirt,  at  Washington,  D.  C.  He 
was  elected  to  the  Senate  of  his  native  state  in  1830. 
He  was  chosen  as  a  representative  in  Congress  in  1832.  He 
was  elected  a  United  States  Senator  from  Massachusetts  in 
1842,  and  resigned  in  1845,  an^  was  succeeded  by  Daniel 
Webster. 

Mr.  Choate  was  one  of  the  most  gifted  forensic  orators 
that  ever  lived.  He  began  his  legal  career  at  Danvers  and 
Salem,  Massachusetts. 

His  intellect,  naturally  powerful,  he  developed  by  exact 
and  laborious  study.  His  powers  of  discrimination  and 
abstraction  were  marvellous.  He  was  endowed  by  nature 
with  a  sparkling  wit,  a  lively  fancy,  and  an  enthusiasm 
which  was  overwhelming.  While  speaking,  Mr.  Choate 
narrowly  and  keenly  watched  the  faces  of  his  auditors,  and 
if  he  noted  the  slightest  look  of  dissatisfaction,  he  changed 
his  course,  and,  with  the  great  tact  for  which  he  was  dis- 
tinguished, he  would  modify,  or  change  the  obnoxious 
statement  until  he  would  meet  the  approbation  of  his  most 
stubborn  listeners.  His  voice  was  indescribably  sweet  and 
musical,  and  no  orator  was  ever  listened  to  with  greater 
delight. 

One  of  his  biographers  says  of  him  :    "  I  have  no  words  to 


HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 

describe  the  effort  of  this  remarkable  man.  The  fluency, 
rapidity,  and  beauty  of  his  language,  his  earnest  manner,  his 
excited  action,  and  his  whole  being,  conflicting  with  the  most 
intense  emotion  ;  he  was  all  nerve  ;  each  sense,  each  faculty 
was  absorbed  in  the  great  duty  of  the  day  ;  and  sometimes 
it  seemed  that  tears  alone  could  relieve  the  uncontrollable 
agitation  which  thrilled  through  his  frame,  and  quivered  on 
his  lips,  and  trembled  in  his  voice;  the  strong  nerve  of  a 
man  alone  enabled  him  to  command  his  struggling  feelings. 
His  memory  supplied  quotations,  learned  and  to  the  point ; 
his  imagination  called  each  poetic  fancy  quick  to  his  aid ; 
and  his  voice  of  music  attuned  itself  to  all  the  varied  tones 
of  his  discourse,  awakening  in  every  breast  the  sentiments 
and  impressions  of  his  own.  He  is  the  Proteus  of  elo- 
quence." 

Much  time  is  wasted  by  studying  subjects  which  are 
interesting,  but  practically  useless.  Mr.  Choate  was  ever  on 
his  guard  against  subjects  of  this  character,  and  it  is  said 
that  early  in  life  he  refused  to  follow  a  friend  into  the  laby- 
rinths of  German  mysticism,  or  to  study  the  doctrines  of 
Swedenborg.  Mr.  Choate  was  earnestly  desirous  of  mas- 
tering the  law  as  a  science,  and  of  understanding  the  art  of 
oratory. 

One  of  the  perils  which  attend  men  of  great  ability  is  the 
danger  of  their  becoming  victims  of  a  delusive  self-confi- 
dence. They  are  sometimes  led  by  the  whispers  of  vanity 
to  depend  upon  their  natural  talents,  and  to  neglect  those 
studies,  which  they  must  pursue  if  they  ever  attain  emi- 
nence. Mr.  Choate,  however,  properly  regarded  genius  as 
the  mere  capacity  to  acquire  knowledge  and  to  use  it,  con- 
sequently he  was  untiring  in  his  efforts  to  cultivate  his 
mental  faculties  to  the  fullest  extent  to  which  they  were  sus- 
ceptible of  being  cultivated.  When  a  young  man  he  often 
read  law  until  two  o'clock  in  the  morning. 

Later  in  life,  however,  Mr.  Choate  became  less  exclusive 
in  his  legal  studies,  and  sought  a  broader  and  more  generous 
culture  than  the  law  could  give. 

In  his  preparation  of  cases  Mr.  Choate  was  extremely  in- 


ORATORY  IN  AMERICA.  439 


dustrious.  Although  one  of  the  most  profound  lawyers 
that  ever  lived,  Mr.  Choate  did  not  neglect  the  study  of  the 
law  governing  each  case  which  was  entrusted  to  his  manage- 
ment. Often  the  labour  of  preparation  was  comparatively 
light  because  of  his  familiarity  with  the  general  principles 
of  the  law.  Chief  Justice  Parsons,  himself  an  eminent 
jurist,  said,  in  speaking  of  Mr.  Choate's  legal  knowledge  : 
"  I  have,  indeed,  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  he  was  one  of 
the  most  learned  lawyers  I  have  ever  met  with.  And  his 
learning  was  excellent  in  its  kind  and  quality." 

Mr.  Choate's  method  of  examining  witnesses  was  un- 
doubtedly the  most  successful  which  he  could  have  adopted. 
He  rarely,  either  in  his  examinations  in  chief,  or  in  his  cross- 
examinations,  spoke  harshly  to  a  witness,  but  when  severity 
was  necessary  no  one  could  be  more  severe. 

Mr.  Choate  once  said  to  a  friend,  "  Never  browbeat  a 
witness  on  the  cross-examination  ;  it  only  makes  him 
more  obstinate  and  hostile.  When  I  began  to  practise  law, 
I  used  to  think  it  very  fine  to  be  severe,  and  even  savage, 
towards  my  opponent's  witnesses  ;  but  I  soon  found  it  would 
not  do,  and  I  reformed  my  method  altogether.  Violence 
does  no  good  :  the  gentle  method  is  the  best.  It  is  the  old 
story  of  the  sun  and  the  wind." 

The  notes  taken  by  Mr.  Choate  in  court  were  always  ample 
and  complete.  To  a  student  who  was  going  to  take  the 
^depositions  of  some  witnesses  he  said  :  "  Take  down  every 
adjective,  adverb,  and  interjection  the  witnesses  utter." 

Although  his  briefs  were  sometimes  lengthy,  he  did  not 
always  confine  himself  to  them  while  addressing  juries. 
In  the  argument  of  questions  of  law  to  the  court,  he  followed 
his  notes  closely,  as  a  general  rule. 

Professor  Brown  says :  "  In  determining  the  theory  of  his 
case,  he  was  never  satisfied  until  he  had  met  every  supposi- 
tion that  could  be  brought  against  it.  But  he  had  no  love 
for  a  theory  because  it  was  his  own,  however  great  the  labour 
it  had  cost  him,  but  was  perfectly  ready  to  throw  it  aside 
for  another,  when  that  appeared  better.  This  change  of 
front  he  sometimes  made  in  the  midst  of  the  trial,  under  the 


44O  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


eye  of  the  court,  and  in  the  face  of  a  watchful  and  eager 
antagonist.  He  was  never  more  self-possessed,  nor  seemed 
to  have  his  entire  faculties  more  fully  at  command,  nor  to 
exercise  a  more  consummate  judgment,  than  when  in  the 
very  heat  of  a  strongly  contested  case,  where  a  mistake 
would  have  been  fatal.  In  the  preparation  of  a  case,  he  left 
nothing  to  chance;  and  his  juniors  sometimes  found  them- 
selves urged  to  a  fidelity  and  constancy  of  labour  to  which 
they  had  not  been  accustomed." 

In  1853  a  vigorous  effort  was  made  in  the  Massachusetts 
Convention  to  change  the  tenure  of  the  judicial  office  to  a 
term  of  years,  from  a  tenure  of  good  behaviour.  Mr.  Choate 
was  opposed  to  this  change,  and  the  speech  which  he  made 
on  that  occasion  was  exceedingly  eloquent  and  able.  In 
the  course  of  his  speech  he  drew  an  admirable  portrait  of 
a  good  judge :  "  In  the  first  place,  he  should  be  profoundly 
learned  in  all  the  learning  of  the  law,  and  he  must  know 
how  to  use  that  learning.  Will  any  one  stand  up  here 
to  deny  this  ?  .  .  .  Will  any  one  disgrace  himself  by 
doubting  the  necessity  of  deep  and  continued  studies,  and 
various  and  thorough  attainments  to  the  bench  ?  He  is  to 
know  not  merely  the  law  which  you  make,  and  the  Legisla- 
ture makes,  not  constitutional  and  statute  law  alone,  but  that 
other  ampler,  that  boundless  jurisprudence,  the  common  law, 
which  the  successive  generations  of  the  State  have  silently 
built  up  ;  that  old  code  of  freedom  which  we  brought  with  us 
in  the  Mayflower  and  Arabella,  but  which,  in  the  progress  of 
centuries,  we  have  ameliorated  and  enriched,  and  adapted 
wisely  to  the  necessities  of  a  busy,  prosperous,  and  wealthy 
community — that  he  must  know. 

"  And  where  to  find  it  ?  In  volumes  which  you  must 
count  by  hundreds,  by  thousands  ;  filling  libraries  ;  exacting 
long  labours — the  labours  of  a  lifetime,  abstracted  from  busi- 
ness, from  politics,  but  assisted  by  taking  part  in  an  active 
judicial  administration  ;  such  labours  as  produced  the  wisdom 
and  won  the  fame  of  Parsons,  and  Marshall,  and  Kent,  and 
Story,  and  Holt,  and  Mansfield.  If  your  system  of 
appointment  and  tenure  does  not  present  a  motive,  a  help 


ORATORY  IN  AMERICA.  441 


for  such  labours  and  such  learning,  if  it  discourages,  if  it 
disparages  them,  in  so  far  it  is  a  failure. 

"  In  the  next  place,  he  must  be  a  man  not  merely  upright ; 
not  merely  honest  and  well  intentioned — this  of  course, — 
but  a  man  who  will  not  respect  persons  in  judgment.  And 
does  not  every  one  here  agree  to  this  also?  Dismissing  for 
a  moment  all  theories  about  the  mode  of  appointing  him, 
or  the  time  for  which  he  shall  hold  office,  sure  I  am  that,  as 
far  as  human  virtue,  assisted  by  the  best  contrivance  of 
human  wisdom,  can  attain  to  it,  he  shall  not  respect  persons 
in  judgment.  He  shall  know  nothing  about  the  parties, 
everything  about  the  case.  He  shall  do-  everything  for 
justice,  nothing  for  himself,  nothing  for  his  friend,  nothing 
for  his  patrons,  nothing  for  his  sovereign. 

"  If,  on  one  side,  is  the  Executive  power  and  the  Legisla- 
ture and  the  people — the  sources  of  his  honours,  the  givers 
of  his  daily  bread — and  on  the  other,  an  individual,  nameless 
and  odious,  his  eye  is  to  see  neither  great  nor  small,  attend- 
ing only  to  the  trepidations  of  the  balance.  If  a  law  is 
passed  by  a  unanimous  Legislature,  clamoured  for  by  the 
general  voice  of  the  public,  and  a  cause  is  before  him  on  it, 
in  which  the  whole  community  is  on  one  side  and  an  indi- 
vidual nameless  or  odious  on  the  other,  and  he  believes  it  to 
be  against  the  Constitution,  he  must  so  declare  it,  or  there 
is  no  judge.  If  Athens  came  there  to  demand  that  the  cup 
of  hemlock  be  put  to  the  lips  of  the  wisest  of  men,  and  he 
believes  that  he  has  not  corrupted  the  youth,  nor  omitted  to  wor- 
ship the  gods  of  the  city,  nor  introduced  new  divinities  of  his 
own,  he  must  deliver  him,  although  the  thunder  light  on 
the  unterrified  brow. 

"  And,  finally,  he  must  possess  the  perfect  confidence  of 
the  community,  that  he  bear  not  the  sword  in  vain.  To  be 
honest,  to  be  no  respecter  of  persons,  is  not  yet  enough. 
He  must  be  believed  such.  I  should  be  glad  so  far  to  indulge 
an  old-fashioned  and  cherished  professional  sentiment  as  to 
say  that  I  would  have  something  venerable  and  illustrious 
attach  to  his  character  and  function,  in  the  judgment  and 
feelings  of  the  Commonwealth! 


442  HISTORY   OF  ORATORY. 


"  But  if  this  should  be  thought  a  little  above  or  behind 
the  time,  I  do  not  fear  that  I  subject  myself  to  the  ridicule 
of  any  one  when  I  claim  that  he  be  a  man  toward  whom 
the  love  and  trust  and  affectionate  admiration  of  the  people 
should  flow,  not  a  man  perching  for  a  winter  and  summer  in 
our  court-houses  and  then  gone  forever  ;  but  one  to  whose 
benevolent  face,  and  bland  and  dignified  manners,  and  firm 
administration  of  the  whole  learning  of  the  law,  we  become 
accustomed ;  whom  our  eyes  anxiously,  not  in  vain,  explore 
when  we  enter  the  temple  of  justice ;  toward  whom  our 
attachment  and  trust  grow  ever  with  the  growth  of  his  own 
reputation.  I  would  have  him  one  who  might  look  back 
from  the  venerable  last  years  of  Mansfield  or  Marshall  and 
recall  such  testimonies  as  these  to  the  great  and  good  judge  : 

"  *  The  young  men  saw  me  and  hid  themselves,  and  the 
aged  arose  and  stood  up. 

"  *  The  princes  refrained  from  talking,  and  laid  their  hand 
upon  their  mouth. 

"  '  When  the  ear  heard  me  then  it  blessed  me,  and  when  the 
eye  saw  me  it  gave  witness  to  me. 

"  *  Because  I  delivered  the  poor  that  cried,  and  the  father- 
less, and  him  that  had  none  to  help  him. 

"  '  The  blessing  of  him  that  was  ready  to  perish  came 
upon  me,  and  I  caused  the  widow's  heart  to  sing  for  joy. 

"'  I  put  on  righteousness  and  it  clothed  me.  My  judg- 
ment was  as  a  robe  and  a  diadem.  I  was  eyes  to  the  blind, 
and  feet  was  I  to  the  lame. 

"  '  I  was  a  father  to  the  poor,  and  the  cause  which  I  knew 
not  I  searched  out. 

"  '  And  I  brake  the  jaws  of  the  wicked,  and  I  plucked  the 
spoil  out  of  his  teeth.' 

"  Give  to  the  community  such  a  judge,  and  I  care  little 
who  makes  the  rest  of  the  Constitution,  or  what  party  ad- 
ministers it.  It  will  be  a  free  government  I  know.  Let  us 
repose  secure  under  the  shade  of  a  learned,  impartial,  and 
trusted  magistracy,  and  we  need  no  more." 

A  cashier  of  one  of  the  South  Boston  banks,  was  tried 
for  embezzlement.  Mr.  Choate  appeared  for  the  defence. 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  AMERICA.  443 


He  contended  that  the  cashier  was  compelled  to  do 
what  he  had  done  by  his  superior  officers,  the  directors; 
that  they  had  swindled  the  public ;  that  they  were  the  re- 
sponsible parties,  and  should  suffer  the  punishment.  He 
was  proceeding  to  flay  the  directors,  when  one  of  them 
rose  in  court,  and  in  great  anger  began  to  denounce  Choate 
who,  hardly  allowing  himself  to  be  interrupted,  said  mildly : 
"  I  beg  the  director  to  be  seated,  as  he  wishes  to  be  treated 
with  moderation  in  a  court  of  justice."  And  then  instantly 
breaking  out  into  a  scream,  and  with  the  greatest  impetu- 
osity, he  exclaimed  :  "  I  tell  you,  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  my 
client  was  as  helpless  in  the  hands  of  these  directors  as  an 
infant  surrounded  by  ten  thousand  Bengal  tigers  !  " 

The  author  who  relates  this  incident  says,  in  commenting 
upon  it :  "  No  one,  however,  smiled  ;  every  one  looked  grave, 
and  full  of  sympathy  for  the  unfortunate  infant  thus  en- 
circled, and  ready  to  bewail  the  inevitable  catastrophe." 

A  story  is  told  of  Mr.  Choate,  for  the  truth  of  which,  how- 
ever, the  writer  will  not  vouch.  A  stranger  called  to  see 
him,  and  said  that  he  had  called  to  consult  him  about  a 
very  important  matter.  His  cause  of  grievance  was  that  at 
a  hotel  he  had  had  a  dispute  with  one  of  the  waiters,  who 
finally  told  him  to  go  to  h — 1.  "  Now,"  he  continued, 
with  an  air  of  great  importance,  "  I  ask  you,  Mr.  Choate,  as 
one  learned  in  the  law,  and  as  my  legal  adviser,  what  course, 
under  these  very  aggravating  circumstances,  is  it  best  for  me, 
in  your  judgment,  to  pursue  ?  "  Mr.  Choate  requested  him 
to  state  again,  in  order  of  time,  everything  that  occurred, 
and  to  be  careful  not  to  omit  anything,  and,  when  this  had 
been  done,  remained  for  a  few  moments  as  if  lost  in  deep 
thought.  At  last,  with  the  utmost  gravity,  he  spoke :  "  I 
have  been  running  over  in  my  mind  all  the  statutes  of  the 
United  States,  all  the  statutes  of  the  Commonwealth  of 
Massachusetts,  and  all  the  decisions  of  all  the  judges 
thereon,  and  I  am  satisfied  there  is  nothing  in  them  that 
will  require  you  to  go  to  the  place  you  have  mentioned  ; 
and  don  t  you  go."  Mr.  Choate's  client  doubtless  followed 
this  sound  advice. 


444  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 


Mr.  Choate  always  spoke  with  great  earnestness.  The 
style  of  forensic  oratory  in  his  day  was  somewhat  different 
from  the  style  at  present,  although  he  would  now  be  heard 
with  just  as  much  pleasure  as  he  was  in  his  own  time,  if 
he  were  alive.  It  is  said  that  at  times  while  speaking  every 
portion  of  his  frame  quivered  with  emotion,  his  eyes  flashed 
fire,  his  gestures  were  vehement  and  energetic,  and  his  voice 
would  rise  to  a  scream." 

A  writer,  Mr.  Parker,  happily  says,  that  Mr.  Choate  did  not 
think  that  truth  lies  in  still  waters.  "  He  appeared  rather 
to  be  of  opinion  that  it  was  a  goblet  of  gold  cast  into  a 
furious  and  foaming  whirlpool, — as  in  Schiller's  ballad, — into 
which  he  who  would  rescue  it  must  plunge,  and  contend  for 
it  with  the  raging  waters ;  and  so,  like  the  daring  youth  in 
the  story,  he  would  leap  into  the  boiling,  hissing,  frightful 
vortex,  pluck  from  its  dark  womb  the  golden  prize,  bear  it 
with  upraised  hand  through  surging  billows  and  assailing 
enemies  back  to  the  welcome  shore,  and  place  it  in  the 
hands  of  the  virgin  goddess,  Justice,  to  give  to  its  rightful 
owner." 

The  writer  is  inclined  to  believe  that  some  of  the  accounts 
of  Mr.  Choate's  extravagance  in  the  use  of  violent  and  de- 
clamatory gestures,  as  well  as  his  screaming  at  the  top  of  his 
voice,  have  been  exaggerated.  Mr.  Choate,  notwithstanding 
his  genius, was  a  man  of  excellent  j  udgment  and  of  exceedingly 
good  taste.  It  is  quite  certain  that  the  voice  of  ex-Governor 
William  Allen,  which  is  said  to  have  been  of  "  forty-bull 
power,"  greatly  displeased  him.  It  is  said  that  he  was  once 
invited  to  address  the  people  of  the  United  States  from  the 
steps  of  the  Capitol  in  Ohio.  His  voice  almost  stunned  the 
Senators  of  the  United  States  who  heard  him.  He  and  Mr. 
Choate  were  members  of  that  Senate  at  the  same  time,  and  on 
one  occasion  the  latter  remarked  humorously  to  a  friend 
that  Allen  repeatedly  violated  that  clause  of  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States  which  forbade  the  infliction  of 
"  cruel  and  unusual  punishments." 

Mr.  Choate  was  unequalled  in  tact  by  any  of  his  contem- 
poraries. No  forensic  orator  was  ever  better  acquainted 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  AMERICA.  445 


with  the  means  of  investing  the  most  common  theme  with 
interest,  and  no  one  could  attract  and  hold  the  attention  of 
the  jury  as  long  as  he  could.  Speaking  of  the  origin  of  an 
assault,  he  said  :  "  It  was  a  mere  accidental  push  ;  such  a  mere 
jostle,  Mr.  Foreman,  as  you  might  give  another  in  coming 
out  of  a  Union  Meeting  at  Faneuil  Hall  "  (he  knew  the  fore- 
man was  a  Webster  Whig)  ;  "  or  a  Friday-evening  prayer 
meeting"  (looking  at  another  and  very  religious  juror); 
"  or  a  Jenny  Lind  concert  "  (looking  now  at  still  another 
juror,  who  was  a  musical  man). 

In  the  trial  of  a  patent  case  the  opposing  counsel  said  to 
him  :  "  There  's  nothing  original  in  your  patent ;  your  client 
did  not  come  at  it  naturally"  Choate  replied,  with  a  half- 
mirthful,  half-scornful  look  :  "  What  does  my  brother  mean 
by  naturally  f  Naturally  !  We  don't  do  anything  naturally. 
Why,  naturally  a  man  would  walk  down  Washington  Street 
with  his  pantaloons  off  !  " 

He  said  of  one  of  his  female  clients  :  "  She  is  a  sinner, — 
no,  not  a  sinner,  for  she  is  our  client ;  but  she  is  a  very  dis- 
agreeable saint." 

That  Mr.  Choate  sometimes  indulged  in  exaggeration  the 
following  passage  in  his  speech  before  a  committee  of  the 
Legislature  of  Massachusetts  on  a  question  of  boundary 
between  that  State  and  Rhode  Island  shows.  He  said  : 

"  I  would  as  soon  think  of  bounding  a  sovereign  state  on 
the  north  by  a  dandelion,  on  the  west  by  a  blue-jay,  on  the 
south  by  a  swarm  of  bees  in  swarming  time,  and  on  the  east 
by  three  hundred  foxes  with  fire-brands  tied  to  their  tails,  as 
of  relying  upon  the  loose  and  indefinite  bounds  of  commis- 
sioners a  century  ago." 

Mr.  Choate  was  not  quite  six  feet  in  height.  His  breast 
was  full  and  deep;  legs  rather  slender;  head  remarkably 
well  shaped,  and  covered  with  a  fine  suit  of  black,  curly  hair ; 
forehead  high,  broad,  and  almost  perpendicular.  His  face 
was  handsome  ;  mouth  and  nose  large,  lips  thin  and  long, 
and  eyes  large,  black,  and  lustrous. 

In  manners  he  was  always  gentlemanly  and  courteous. 
He  was  always  particularly  respectful  to  the  aged,  and  he 


HISTORY  OF  ORATORY. 

treated  young  people,  invariably,  with  the  greatest  kind- 
ness. 

His  vocabulary  was  practically  unlimited.  His  voice  was 
sonorous,  musical,  and  capable  of  expressing  every  shade  of 
feeling. 

Mr.  Choate  was  fond  of  the  study  of  the  Bible — especially 
of  the  New  Testament,  and  on  one  occasion  Daniel  Webster, 
while  looking  through  his  library,  said  :  "  Thirteen  editions 
of  the  Greek  Testament,  and  not  one  copy  of  the  Constitu- 
tion of  your  country."  He  translated  many  of  the  Greek 
and  Latin  classics  into  English.  He  was  extremely  fond  of 
books,  and  an  extract  from  his  remarks  on  the  consolations 
of  literature  may  prove  of  interest  to  the  reader: 

"  I  come  to  add  the  final  reason  why  the  working  man — 
by  whom  I  mean  the  whole  brotherhood  of  industry — should 
set  on  mental  culture  and  that  knowledge  which  is  wisdom, 
a  value  so  high — only  not  supreme — subordinate  alone  to 
the  exercises  and  hopes  of  religion  itself ;  and  that  is,  that 
therein  he  shall  so  surely  find  rest  from  labour;  succour  un- 
der its  burdens  ;  forgetfulness  of  its  cares  ;  composure  in  its 
annoyances. 

"  It  is  not  always  that  the  busy  day  is  followed  by  the 
peaceful  night.  It  is  not  always  that  fatigue  wins  sleep. 
Often  some  vexation  outside  of  the  toil  that  has  exhausted 
the  frame  :  some  loss  in  a  bargain  ;  some  loss  by  an  in- 
solvency ;  some  unforeseen  rise  or  fall  in  prices ;  some  triumph 
of  a  mean  or  fraudulent  competitor  ;  '  the  law's  delay,  the 
proud  man's  contumely,  the  insolence  of  office,  or  some  of  the 
spurns  that  patient  merit  from  the  unworthy  takes ' — some 
self-reproach,  perhaps,  follow  you  within  the  door  ;  chill  the 
fireside ;  sow  the  pillow  with  thorns  ;  and  the  dark  care  is 
lost  in  the  last  waking  thought,  and  haunts  the  vivid 
dream. 

"  Happy,  then,  is  he  who  has  laid  up  in  youth,  and  has  held 
fast  in  all  fortune,  a  genuine  and  passionate  love  of  reading. 
True  balm  of  hurt  minds ;  of  surer  and  more  healthful 
charm  than  '  poppy  or  mandragora,  or  all  the  drowsy  syrups 
of  the  world  ' — by  that  single  taste,  by  that  single  capacity, 


OR  A  TOR  Y  IN  AMERICA.  447 


he  may  bound,  in  a  moment,  into  the  still  regions  of  de- 
lightful studies,  and  be  at  rest. 

"  He  recalls  the  annoyance  that  pursues  him  ;  reflects  that 
he  has  done  all  that  might  become  a  man  to  avoid  or  bear 
it ;  he  indulges  in  one  good  long,  human  sigh,  picks  up  a 
volume  where  the  mark  kept  his  place,  and  in  about  the 
same  time  that  it  takes  the  Mohammedan,  in  the  Spectator, 
to  put  his  head  in  the  bucket  of  water  and  raise  it  out,  he 
finds  himself  exploring  the  arrow-marked  ruins  of  Nineveh 
with  Layard  ;  or  worshipping  at  the  spring-head  of  the  stu- 
pendous Missouri  with  Clarke  and  Lewis ;  or  watching  with 
Columbus  for  the  sublime  moment  of  the  rising  of  the  cur- 
tain from  before  the  great  mystery  of  the  sea  ;  or  looking 
reverentially  on  while  Socrates — the  discourse  on  immortal- 
ity ended — refuses  the  offer  of  escape,  and  takes  in  his  hand 
the  poison,  to  die  in  obedience  to  the  unrighteous  sentence 
of  the  law ;  or,  perhaps,  it  is  in  the  contemplation  of  some 
vast  spectacle  or  phenomenon  of  Nature  that  he  has  found 
his  quick  peace — the  renewed  exploration  of  one  of  her 
great  laws — or  some  glimpse  opened  by  the  pencil  of  St. 
Pierre,  or  Humboldt,  or  Chateaubriand,  or  Wilson,  of  the 
'  blessedness  and  glory  of  her  own  deep,  calm,  and  mighty 
existence/ 

"  Let  the  case  of  a  busy  lawyer  testify  to  the  priceless  value 
of  the  love  of  reading.  He  comes  home,  his  temples  throb- 
bing, his  nerves  shattered,  from  a  trial  of  a  week;  surprised 
and  alarmed  by  the  charge  of  the  judge,  and  pale  with 
anxiety  about  the  verdict  of  the  next  morning,  not  at  all 
satisfied  with  what  he  has  done  himself,  though  he  does  not 
yet  see  how  he  could  have  improved  it;  recalling  with  dread 
and  self-disparagement,  if  not  with  envy,  the  brilliant  effort 
of  his  antagonist,  and  tormenting  himself  with  the  vain 
wish  that  he  could  have  replied  to  it — and  altogether  a  very 
miserable  subject,  and  in  as  unfavourable  condition  to  accept 
comfort  from  wife  and  children  as  poor  Christian  in  the  first 
three  pages  of  the  Pilgrim's  Progress. 

"  With  a  superhuman  effort  he  opens  his  book,  and  in  a 
twinkling  of  an  eye  he  is  looking  into  the  full  '  orb  of  Ho- 


448  HIS  TOR  Y  OF  OR  A  TOR  Y. 


meric  or  Miltonic  song ' ;  or  he  stands  in  the  crowd  breath- 
less, yet  swayed  as  forests  or  the  sea  by  winds,  hearing 
and  to  judge  the  Pleadings  for  the  Crown  ;  or  the  philosophy 
which  soothed  Cicero  or  Boethius  in  their  afflictions,  in  exile, 
in  prison,  and  the  contemplation  of  death,  breathes  over  his 
petty  cares  like  the  sweet  south;  or  Pope  or  Horace  laugh 
him  into  good  humour,  or  he  walks  with  ^Eneas  and  the 
Sybil  in  the  mild  light  of  the  world  of  the  laurelled  dead, 
and  the  court-house  is  as  completely  forgotten  as  the  dream 
of  a  pre-Adamite  life.  Well  may  he  prize  that  endeared 
charm,  so  effectual  and  safe,  without  which  the  brain  had 
long  ago  been  chilled  by  paralysis,  or  set  on  fire  by  insanity  !  " 

Mr.  Choate's  originality  was  never  questioned.  He  copied 
no  one,  in  language  or  style  of  argumentation.  He  was 
always  natural  and  unaffected,  and  was  beyond  question  one 
of  the  most  powerful  advocates  that  ever  addressed  a  jury. 
At  the  time  of  his  death  he  was  at  the  head  of  the  American 
bar.  He  discharged  his  duty  to  the  letter  in  every  relation 
of  life,  public  and  private.  No  good  man  was  his  enemy, 
and  for  the  respect  of  the  vicious  he  was  not  solicitous. 

Mr.  Choate  was  extremely  courteous  and  kind  to  his 
juniors,  and  he  was  sincerely  mourned  by  them  at  his  death. 
His  fidelity  to  the  interests  of  clients  knew  no  bounds.  His 
life  was  a  useful  one,  and  so  perfect  a  character  should  be 
looked  upon  as  an  example  by  the  younger  members  of  the 
legal  profession  worthy  of  their  closest  imitation.  The  more 
carefully  they  read  the  history  of  his  life  and  his  utterances 
in  public  the  greater  will  be  their  reverence  for  him. 

He  died  at  Halifax,  on  the  I3th  of  July,  1859. 

THE  END. 


INDEX. 


Adams,  John. 

Description  of  Otis,  336 
Adams,  John  Quincy. 

Exhortation  to  eloquence,  72 

Comparison    between   ancient    and 

modern  oratory,  74 
^schines,  15-18 

Suit  against  Ctesiphon,  15 
Afrania,  38 
Alison. 

Eloquence  in   the  reign  of  George 

HI.,  77 

Allen,  William,  444 
Ames,  Fisher,  338-343 

Upon  Hamilton,  326 

On  the  Sanctity  of  Treaties,  340 
Anaxagoras,  3 
Antonius,  Marcus,  31 
Antony,  Mark,  Cicero  against,  65 
Ashurst,  Justice,  248 
Augustine,  80. 


B 


Baillie,  Captain,  defence  of,  199 
Baldwin. 

Randolph's  opposition  to  war  with 

England,  343 
Beecher,  Henry  Ward. 

Definition  of  oratory,  70 
Berryer.  » 

French  advocate  at  his  daily  duties, 

302 

29 


Blair. 

Upon  Modern  Eloquence,  80 
Blessington,  Lady. 

Description  of  Disraeli,  274 
Bolingbroke,  Lord,  91-96 

Law  as  a  science,  93 

The  study  of  history,  94 

Letter  to  Windham,  96 
Boswell. 

Erskine  and  Johnson,  194 
Bright,  John,  261-274 

Extract    from   speech    against    the 
Crimean  War,  268 

Tribute  from  Gladstone,  271 
Brougham,  Lord,  176-188 
^Oration  on  the  Crown,  17 

Lord  Bolingbroke,  91 

The  Administration  of  Lord  Chat- 
ham, 100 

Eloquence  of  Chatham,  105 

Fox  and  Demosthenes,  123 

Canning,  175 

Extract  from  speech  on   Law  Re- 
form, 182 

Extract   from    speech    on    Emanci- 
pation   of     Negro    Apprentices, 

183 

Tribute  to  Washington,  183 
The  fate  of  the  Reformer,  185 
The  conqueror  and  the  schoolmaster, 

187 

Tribute  to  Erskine,  241 
Brown,  David  Paul. 
The  advocate,  71 


449 


450 


INDEX. 


Brown,    Prof.,    conduct    of    case    by 

Rufus  Choate,  439 
Buller,  Justice,  198,  205 
Burke,  Edward,  126-136 

Comparison  with  Fox  and  Pitt,  116 
On  American  Affairs,  130 
Extracts  from  the  trial  of  Warren 
Hastings,  132 


Caldwell,  Dr.  Charles. 

Oratory  of  Fisher  Ames,  339 
Calhoun,  John  C.,  406,  430 
Calidius,  39 
Calvus,  39 
Campbell,  Lord. 

Erskine's  choice  of  profession,  195 

Erskine's  defence  of  Gordon,  203 

Quips  of  Home  Tooke,  222 

Letter  from  Erskine,  230 

Estimate  of  Erskine,  235,  248 
Canning,  George,  169-176 

Sketch  of  Pitt,  114 

Extract  from  speech  on  Bank-notes 
and  Coin,  169 

Extract  from  speech  on  Tierney's 
Motion,  171 

Extract  from  speech  on   Men   and 
Measures,  172 

Extract  from  speech  on  the  Philoso- 
phy of  Hatred,  173 

At  Eton,  284 
Cardus,  66 
Cardwell,  277 
Carfania,  68 
Carlyle,  Thomas,   Letter  to  Emerson 

on  Webster,  389 
Carmenin  on  Mirabeau,  308 
Catiline,  60 
Cato,  26 
Cethegus,  26 
Chatham,  Lord,  96-108 

Answer  of  Walpole,  97 

Reply  to  Walpole,  99 

Extract  from  speech  on  American 
War,  101 

Tribute  of  VVirt,  106 


Choate,  Joseph  H.,  73 
Choate,  Rufus,  437-448 
Portrait  of  a  judge,  440 
Advice  to  a  client,  443 
Consolations  of  Literature^  446 
Christie,  Auctioneer,  246 
Chrysostom,  81 
Cicero,  48-66 

Compared   with    Demosthenes,    20, 

53 

Importance  of  eloquence,  24 
Reference  to  Galba,  26 

"  Lselius     and      Scipio 
Africanus,  27 

Reference  to  Antony,  32,  65 
"  Crassus,  33 
"  Calidius,  40 
Defence  of  Roscius,  50 
Orations  against  Verres,  54 

Catiline,  60 

Claudius,  Appius,  25,  26 
Clay,  Henry,  73,  424-437 
Campaigning,  426 
Lexington  dinner,  428 
Reply  to  Calhoun,  430 
Coleridge,  Sir  James,  261 
Colton. 

Oratory  of  Clay,  435 
Comitia,  the  Roman,  43 
Corry,  Chancellor,  142 
Corwin,  Thomas,  367-372 

Reply  to  Crary,  368 
Cotta,  34 
Crassus,  31-33 

Speech  against  Philippus,  33 
Creasy,  Sir  Edward,  on  Bolingbroke, 

95 

Ctesiphon,  114 

Curran,  John  Philpot,  150-156 

Extracts  from  Defence  of  Rowan, 
152 

Sketch  of  O'Connell,  162 

D 

Dean  of  St.  Asaph,  defence  of,  205 
Demosthenes,  9-22 

Extract  from  First  Philippic,  10 


INDEX. 


451 


Demosthenes — Continued. 

Extract  from  Third  Philippic,  10 

Oration  on  the  Crown, 
12,  17 
Compared  with  Cicero,  20,  53 

"  "      Fox,  123 

Dionysius,  25 
Disraeli,    Benjamin,    263,    268,    274- 

282,  289 

First  speech  in  Parliament,  275 
Oratory  of,  277 

Allusion  to  the  Abyssinian  War,  278 
Reply  to  criticisms   by  Gladstone, 

279 

Counsel  to  youth,  280 
On  the  Power  of  Knowledge,  280 
Dumont. 

Mirabeau  as  an  orator,  312 


Emerson,  G.  R. 

Gladstone  at  Eton  and  Oxford,  283 
Emmet,  Thomas  Addis,  156 
Erskine,  Lord,  188-252 
Letters,  189,  191 
^Defence  of  Captain  Baillie,  199 
"         "  Admiral  Keppel,  202 

"  Lord    George    Gordon, 
203 

Defence  of  Dean  of  St.  Asaph,  205 
"         "  Stockdale,  207 
"          "   Hardy,  213 
"  Tooke,  221 
"  Thelwall,  227 
Prosecution  of  Williams,  228 
Defence  of  Hadfield,  231 
Espinasse,    sketch   of    Erskine,    243, 

245 
Everett,  Edward,  357-367 

Extract  from  Advantages  of  Adver- 
sity to  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  358 
Extract  from  address  on  the  Uses 

of  Astronomy,  361 
Extract  from  address  on  England, 

362 

Extract     from   address    on    Know- 
ledge, 365 


Flood,  controversy  with  Grattan,  140 

Forum,  the  Roman,  42 

Fox,   Charles  James,    112,    113,    118- 

126 
Comparison  with   Burke    and    Pitt, 

116 
Extract  from  speech  on  the  Progress 

of  Liberty,  119 

Extracts  from  speech  on  the  Ameri- 
can War,  119,  1 20 
Compared  with  Demosthenes,  123 
Franklin,  tribute  by  Mirabeau,  307 
Frere,  John  Hookham,  284 


G 


Galba,  S. ,  26 
Callus,  Plotius,  31 
Gentlcmeris  Magazine. 

Oratory  of  Disraeli,  277 
Gladstone,  William  Ewart,  263,  279, 

281-299 

Tribute  to  John  Bright,  271 
Mid-Lothian  campaign,  291 
Goodrich. 

Comment  upon  Demosthenes,  13 
Demosthenes  compared  with   Fox, 

124 

Burke  as  an  orator,  128 
Comments  upon  Grattan,  138,  139, 

148 

Goodwin,  comment  upon  Fox,  123 
Gordon,    Lord    George,    defence    of, 

203 

Gorgias,  8 
Gracchus,  Caius,  29 

"         Tiberius,  28 
Grattan,  Henry,  136-150 

Motion  for  a  Declaration  of  Irish 

Right,  138 

Controversy  with  Flood,  140 
Invective  against  Corry,  142 
Extract  from  speech  in  Opposition 

to  Union,  144 
Character  as  an  orator,  145 


452 


INDEX. 


H 


Hadfield,  defence  of,  231 
Hamilton,  Alexander,  321-328 

Extract  from  speech  on  the  Consti- 
tution of  the  United  States,  326 
Hancock,  John,  3^9 

Extracts   of   sj~    ^ch   to   citizens   of 

Boston,  3?Q. 
Extract    fror^    oration    on    Boston 

Massacre,  321 
Hardy,  defence  of,  213 
Harsha,  14 
Hastings,  Warren,  impeachment   of, 

132-206 

Hayne,  Robert  V.,  396 
Henry,  Patrick,  14,  319,  328-334 
First  public  appearance,  328 
Extract  from  speech  Advising  Re- 
sistance   to    British   Aggression, 
332 

Homer,  2,  3 
Horsman,  263,  289 
Hortensia,  38 
Hortensius,  25,  35-39 


Isaeus,  8,  9 
Isocrates,  8,  21 


Johnson,  Dr.,  97,  194 
Juvenal  on  the  Roman  Bar,  67 

K 

Kent,  Chancellor,  letter  to  Webster, 

396 

Kenyon,  Lord,  243 
Keppel,  Admiral,  defence  of,  202 
Knapp,  prosecution  of,  407 
Kossuth. 

Extract  from  speech  at  Bunker  Hill, 
411 


Laelius,  27 
Lafayette,  310,  315 


Lee,  Richard  Henry,  319 

Lepidus,  27 

Logan  in  defence  of  Warren  Hastings, 

206 
Longinus. 

Comparison   between  Demosthenes 

and  Cicero,  20 
Lowe,  263,  268 
Lyman,  General. 

Webster  on  Scratching  Out,  423 
Lysias,  8,  21 

M 

Macaulay,  261,  298 
Mackintosh,  Sir  James. 

Description  of  Fox,  123 
March. 

Description  of  Webster  in  reply  to 

Hayne,  398 
Marius,  32,  34 
Maximus,  Q.,  33 
Member  for  the  Chiltern  Hundreds. 

Mr.  Gladstone  as  an  orator,  288 
Mid-Lothian  campaign,  290 
Milo,  49 
Mirabeau,  Compte  de,  303,  305-316 

Tribute  to  Franklin,  307 

Picture  of  a  legal  constitution,  309 

On  the  administration  of  Bailly  and 
Lafayette,  310 

In  support  of  Necker,  310 
Mitford,  Miss  Mary  Russell. 

Description  of  Webster,  390 

N 

Necker,  310,  315 
Nottingham,  Lord,  89 


O'Connell,  Daniel,  156-168 

Reply  to  Disraeli,  275 
Otis,  James,  319,  334-338 

Extract  from  Vindication  of  the 
Colony  of  Massachusetts  in  1762, 
337 


INDEX. 


453 


Park,  James  Allen,  248 
Paulus,  Emilius,  28 
Parker. 

Comment  on  Rufus  Choate,  444 
Pericles,  3-7 

Extract  from  Oration,  4 
Phalerius,  Demetrius,  22 
Phillips,  Charles. 

Grattan  as  an  orator,  145,  149 
Pinkney,  William,  347-351 
Pitt,  William,  108-118 

On  Peace  with  America,  in 

In  reply  to  Fox,  112 

Choice  of  Canning,  169 
Pliny  the  Younger,  67 
Plutarch,  4 

Praed,  Winthrop  Mackworth,  284 
Praetors,  the  Roman,  40 
Prentiss,  Sergeant  S.,  372-387 

Address    on    the   Landing  of    the 

Pilgrims,  375 
Publicola,  25 


Quincy,  Josiah,  319 

Extract  from  address  to  townsmen, 

320 
Quincy,  Josiah. 

On  the  Union  of  the  States,  406 
Quintilian.  66 


R 


Randolph,  John,  343-347 

Extract  from  speech  on  British  In- 
fluence, 346 
Reid,  T.  W. 

John  Bright  as  a  speaker,  263 
Roscius,  defence  of,  50 


Salisbury,  Lord,  279 
Scaevola,  Mucius,  28,  36,  49 
Scarlett,  Sir  James,  252-261 

Extract  from  autobiography,  257 


Scipio  Africanus,  27 
Scipio  Nasica,  28 
Scriven,  166 
Senate,  the  Roman,  44 
Sentia,  Amaesia,  38 
Sheil. 

Sketch  of  O'Con  ell,  156 
Smalley,  G.  W. 

Mid-Lothian  campaign,  290 
Socrates,  8 

Stockdale,  defence  of,  207 
Story,  Judge. 

Sketch  of  Pinkney,  348 
Sulpicius,  34 
Sylla,  35 


Tacitus,  66 
Talfourd,  Sergeant. 

Estimate  of  Lord  Brougham,  180 

Opinion  of  Erskine,  251 

Scarlett's     method    of    conducting 

cases,  255 
Thucydides,  21,  285 
Tindal,  Lord  Chief  Justice,  258 
Tooke,  John  Home,  216,  221 
Turner,  Dr.,  285 


U 


Ulpian,  68 

Underwood,  Senator. 
Character  of  Henry  Clay,  433 


Vergniaud,  77 

Verres,  Cicero  against,  54 

W 

Walpole,  Horace. 

Answer  to  Lord  Chatham,  97 

Opinion  of  Fox,  118 
Warren  Joseph. 

Extract  from  speech  on  the  Boston 
Massacre,  319 

Reference  by  Kossuth,  412 


454 


INDEX. 


Washington. 

Tribute  by  Lord  Brougham,  183 
Webster,  Daniel,  73,  384,  387-424 

Extracts  from  speech  on  Revolution 
in  Greece,  391 

Extract  from  address  at  the  laying 
of  the  corner-stone  of  the  Bunker- 
Hill  Monument,  393 

Extract  from  funeral  discourse  upon 
Adams  and  Jefferson,  394 

Extract  from  speech  on  the  Bank 
Question,  395 

Extracts  from  Reply  to  Hayne,  400 

Prosecution  of  Knapp,  407 

Extract  from  address  on  the  Com- 
pletion of  the  Bunker-Hill  Monu- 
ment, 410 

Extract  from  address  at  the  laying 
of  the  corner-stone  of  the  addition 
to  the  Capitol  at  Washington, 
412 


Words  on  the  Responsibility  of  an 

American  Citizen,  414 
Extract    from    address   before    the 

New    York    Historical    Society, 

415 

Rufus  Choate's  library,  446 
Wheaton. 

Sketch  of  Pinkney,  347 
Williams,  prosecution  of,  228 
Willis,  274 
Windham,  95,  113 
Wirt,  351-357 

Tribute  to  Lord  Chatham,  106 
First  public  appearance  of  Patrick 

Henry,  328 

Letter    on    Improvement   in    Elo- 
quence, 351 

Account  of  the  blind  minister's  ser- 
mon, 355 
Wraxall. 

Remarks  on  Burke,  128 


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